
Gass Etgg 
Book_ 



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BACON'S 
DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK 

of 

AMERICA 

COMPRISING 



HISTORY, GEOGRAPHY, AGRICULTURE, MANU1 ACTURES, COMMERCE, RAIL- 
WAYS, MIXING, FINANCE, GOVERNMENT, POLITICS, EDUCATION, 
RELIGION, CHARACTERISTICS, PUBLIC LANDS, LAWS, ETC. 



GEORGE WASHINGTON BACON, F.H.G.S. 



w 



G. W. BACON AND CO., 

48, PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON, 

AND 5, BEEKMAN STREET, NEW YORK. 

(The Right of Translation is Reserved.) 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1866, by 
Q. W. Bacon, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the 
United States for the Southern District of New York. 






<S 



PREFACE. 



In offering this " Handbook of America" to the 
English public, the publishers have been actuated by 
a desire to supply a want that has long been felt ; 
nothing of the nature and scope of this volume having 
been heretofore attempted in England. It supplies a 
mass of information, in a compendious form, relative 
to the United States and Canada ; embracing their 
Physical and Political Geography ; the History of their 
Early Settlement and Development; together with 
their Agriculture, Manufactures, Commerce, Religion, 
Education, Laws, Institutions, etc. The characteristics 
of the Americans, their manners, customs, peculiarities 
of idiom, etc., are also treated ; the most painstaking 
care and laborious research having been exercised in 
order to render the book useful alike to the statesman, 
the tourist, the seeker after investment, the emigrant, 



IV PREFACE. 

and. to every one who takes an interest in America, 
and is desirous of having at hand a complete vade 
mecum of useful information relating to that country 
and people. 

As the Authors have been careful to collate all 
reliable facts of general interest, so they have been 
solicitous to exclude all opinions, prejudices, and 
speculations of a sectional or party character, being 
desirous rather of strengthening those sentiments of 
international amity which should subsist between 
England and America, and which are best promoted by 
whatever leads the two countries to a more intimate 
knowledge and thorough understanding of each other. 

Entire originality is not claimed for the work, free 
use having been made of those devoted to the special 
topics here comprised in one volume. Among them 
are " Colton's American Atlas," " Colton's Geo- 
graphy," the " American Cyclopaedia," ( c Appleton's 
American Handbook," " Lippincott's Gazetteer," 
" Encyclopaedia Britannica," "Hall's Guide to the 
West," " Kennedy's Census Eeport," " The Kesources 
of California," " Bartlett's Americanisms," " Beadle's 
Year Book," etc. We are especially indebted to 
Messrs. Appleton for having furnished us with the 
advance sheets of the " American Annual Cyclopaedia 



PREFACE. V 

for 1865/' in furtherance of our undertaking. Our 
acknowledgments are also due to Mr. John Pratt,, of 
Alabama, whose extensive knowledge of American 
affairs has been of material advantage in the prepara- 
tion of the work. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Peeface iii 

HlSTOEICAL InTEODTJCTION 1 

Chaptee I. — General View — Mountains — Geological Features — 
Soil — Rivers — Lakes — Climate — Zoology — 
Yegetation 8 

Chaptee II. — Agriculture — Manufactures — Commerce — Fisheries 

— Mining— Petroleum 42 

Chaptee III. — Public Lands — How to secure them — Surveys— The 

Homestead Bill 74 

Chaptee IV. — Government — Executive — The Legislature — The 
Judiciary — Eespective Powers of National and 
State Governments — Government of the Ter- 
ritories 86 

Chaptee V. — States and Territories — The Eastern, or New Eng- 
land States — The Middle States— District of 
Columbia — The Southern States — The Western 
States— The Pacific States— The Territories 98 

Chaptee YI. — Population — Naturalization — Suffrage — Patent 

Laws — Marriage Laws — Temperance Laws 225 

Chaptee YII. — Railways — Canals — Telegraphs — Atlantic Tele- 
graph 249' 

Chaptee VIII.— Religion— Education— Press 268 



yiii CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Chapter IX.— Description of the Principal Cities— New York- 
Brooklyn — Boston — Philadelphia— Baltimore 

— Washington — Cincinnati — Chicago — St. 
Louis— New Orleans— Mobile— San Francisco 
Richmond— Charleston— Savannah 285 ? 

Chaptee X.— Natural Curiosities and Objects of Interest to Tra- 
vellers—Waterfalls — Caves — Natural Bridges 

— Mammoth Tree Groves — Mineral Springs 

— Antiquities — Mount Vernon 311 

Chaptee XI. —Army— Navy— Post Office— Eevenue— National 
Debt— Banks— Eeal and Personal Property— 
Eates of Exchange— Legal Interest and Usury ... 333 

Chaptee XII.— Characteristics of the American People— Ame- 
ricanisms— Popular Names and Mottoes of 
States 35 ° 

Chaptee XIII.— Canada-Physical Features— Agriculture— Com- 
merce— Religion — Education, etc 368 



INTRODUCTION 



Feom the memorable day when Columbus with his tiny- 
fleet and adventurous crew left the harbour of Palos, in 
search of the Ultima Thule of the western ocean, the 
Western Hemisphere has never ceased to excite throughout 
Europe an unflagging interest. Successive generations 
read over and over again the wonderful story of its first 
discovery and settlement. It was the dawn of a new era. 
The marvellous event interested all ages and conditions of 
life. Philosophers regarded the New World as the 
New Atlantis of a higher and nobler humanity ; the pious 
looked towards it as a new field for the promulgation of 
the gospel ; the ambitious saw what Alexander had pined 
for in vain — new worlds to conquer ; and the avaricious 
were filled with dreams of easily-acquired wealth. The 
cotemporaries of Columbus regarded the New World 
as literally an El Dorado of untold riches, wherein might 
be realized the poetic idea of the golden age ; and while 
each successive exploration and discovery did much to 
dispel these sanguine illusions, they yet furnished fresh 
proofs of its immense extent and resources. 

The field of discovery once opened by the genius of 
Columbus, thousands were eager to follow in his steps. 
Spain had taken the initiative, and continued to hold the 
foremost rank as long as an important discovery remained 
to be achieved on the continent ; but every nation which 
could boast of a commerce worthy the name hastened 
to gratify its own ambition, or the curiosity or avarice 

1 



2 INTRODUCTION. 

of its subjects, by sending out expedition after expedition, 
and gradually was mapped out the vast Atlantic coast of 
the New World. 

North America was discovered by John Cabot under 
English auspices in 1497, the year before the discovery of 
the southern portion of the continent by Columbus ; though 
neither Columbus nor Cabot were aware that they had dis- 
covered the continent, and the former died unconscious of 
the value of the boon he had conferred on mankind. From 
this time discovery and exploration advanced with rapid, 
strides, especially when we consider the imperfect state of 
navigation in the sixteenth century. In less than fifty 
years from the time Columbus first set foot on the island 
of San Salvador, the discovery of the Pacific by Balboa 
had demonstrated that three thousand miles to the west 
of Europe there stretched, not a group of islands, but a 
vast though yet undefined continent. "Within the same 
period De Soto had revealed still further the immense 
extent of the New World, by the discovery that a thou- 
sand miles from the Atlantic coast there coursed a river 
of such dimensions, as dwarfed by comparison the largest 
streams of Europe. 

The era of settlement followed that of discovery. The 
doctrine of the right of prior occupancy being then, as 
now, a fundamental principle of international law, every 
maritime power of the Old World hastened to assert it. 
Only ten years after the discovery of the southern conti- 
nent, Cortez sailed from Havannah for the conquest of 
Mexico. That magnificent region, together with the 
present gulf or cotton States, constituting half of the 
most valuable part of the North American continent, 
was mostly occupied and colonized by Spain. The 
French settled the Carolinas and the Canadas; and the 
Middle States were occupied by the Dutch and Swedes, 



INTRODUCTION. O 

English colonization was as yet confined to the New 
England States and Virginia. Soon came the inevitable 
collision with the aborigines, with its equally inevitable 
result — their enslavement or extinction throughout the 
white settlements. The rights of the weak are easily 
disposed of in international disputes ; but a greater danger 
threatened the prosperity of the colonies than that conse- 
quent on Indian hostilities. The conflicting claims of a 
number of European nations had still to be adjusted by the 
sword or by treaty. It was also a question of vast import, 
whether the North American continent was, like Europe, 
to be divided and subdivided into a number of separate 
nationalities, with heterogeneous polities, languages, and 
social systems, or whether all these were to be moulded in 
one grand and symmetrical type. 

In what manner this question might be decided, no 
one in that day could form any other than the most vague 
conjecture. But had it then been foreseen that the time 
would come when one language would be spoken from 
Baffin's Bay to the Mexican boundary, who could have 
foretold to what nation that surpassing glory would attach? 
The probabilities seemed strongest in favour of Spain, 
then the most powerful of European nations. She had far 
outstripped the rest of the world in the work of occupancy 
and colonization, and possessed all the prestige derived 
from the discovery of the continent. But the Spanish 
system of colonization had two fatal defects. It vainly 
attempted to base a substantial prosperity upon the en- 
forced labour of the natives, while committing the yet 
greater blunder of debasing and deteriorating the fine old 
Iberian stock by mingling with it the blood of radically 
inferior races. The result was a race of mongrels, but 
little superior to the aboriginal tribes, and a semi-civiliza- 
tion, wherein was a grotesque mingling of Catholicism and 



4 INTRODUCTION. 

Paganism, of European tastes and customs with savage 
predilections and habits. 

There were three other nationalities which competed 
for the possession and control of America. Sweden, under 
Gustavus Adolphus, had made settlements in Delaware ; 
but the prestige and power of that nation did not long 
outlive the brief but glorious career of her great ruler. 
Holland was too much absorbed in a death struggle for 
national existence to spare any resources for the defence of 
distant dependencies, and the Dutch, after having, in 1651, 
driven the Swedes from Delaware, were, thirteen years 
afterwards, themselves ejected from all their American 
possessions. The same year saw England in the sole 
occupancy of the whole Atlantic coast from Maine to 
Florida, One rival, however, still kept the field. France, 
whose early explorers justly claim the credit of having 
first discovered the source and traced the course of the 
Mississippi River, had formed settlements along its banks 
and on the shores of the great lakes. 

The English, more than a million in number, had esta- 
blished agricultural colonics ; the French, mostly occupied 
with trade, numbered only about one hundred thousand. 
The traditional enmity of the two nations was still burning 
fiercely, and in the colonies, was fed by frequent collisions 
on the frontiers. The undisguised efforts made by the 
French about the middle of the eighteenth century to 
oppose the extension of British settlements by the erection 
of a cordon of forts on the Ohio, brought the territorial 
question to a speedy issue, and in 1754 the struggle known 
as the French and Indian war commenced. After a con- 
test of seven years, the British flag waved triumphant over 
nearly the whole North American continent. This contest, 
although generally deemed of but little consequence in com- 
parison with the war of independence which soon followed, 



INTRODUCTION. 

is invested with a peculiar interest for Englishmen. It was 
this war which for ever linked the best half of the western 
hemisphere to the destinies of the Anglo-Saxon race, 
making of it, indeed, literally a new England, sown with 
English homes and with English laws, manners, customs, 
institutions, and language. 

The war of independence grew out of the war of 1754. 
The expenses attending the latter had been enormous — 
£50,000,000. An unwise attempt to transfer a portion 
of this burden to the colonies, while withholding from 
them the right of representation, resulted first in local 
collisions, and ultimately in the war of the revolution. 
The distance to be traversed by the British forces was 
great ; the difficulty of transportation immense ; the 
colonists were determined and united, while the English 
people were divided in opinion, and prosecuted the war 
with anything but energy. The result was what the best 
heads in Parliament had foreseen, " the loss of the brightest 
jewel in the British Crown." Yet it had been a costly jewel, 
as had been shown by results of the war of 1754, and, in 
common with the other British possessions, would, doubt- 
less, have always been a source of expense rather than 
profit. This, however, was not the view taken by English- 
men of that day. The disastrous issue of the struggle 
was universally considered an unmitigated calamity ; and 
great was the cry of indignation raised against the admin- 
istration of Lord North when the surrender of Corn- 
wallis and his army to Washington on the memorable 
19th of October, 1781, demonstrated the hopelessness of 
any further efforts to hold the colonies in subjection. 

Before the termination of the war, the colonies had 
formed a temporary union, for the purpose of mutual 
defence, and the Articles of Confederation adopted for that 
end were superseded, in 1787, by the constitution of the 



O INTRODUCTION. 

United States. This was the beginning of the republic. 
The constitution was ratified by all the States, and George 
Washington — to whose wisdom, patriotism, and fortitude, 
more than to any other cause, the country had been 
indebted for its independence — was elected first president. 
During the remainder of the eighteenth century various 
causes combined to retard the progress of the country. 
Emigration for a while stood still, heavy taxation de- 
pressed the energies of the people, and every branch of 
industry was in a state of stagnation. Gradually, however, 
the national debt was liquidated, law and order were firmly 
established, the latent resources of the country began to 
be developed, and then commenced a career of national 
prosperity unexampled in the history of the world. The 
population increased with a rapidity never before wit- 
nessed, and manufactures and commerce increased even 
more rapidly than population. The Southern States 
were long debarred by climate and by reason of the 
institution of slavery, from a just share in the general 
prosperity. Cotton culture had already, it is true, been 
introduced, but it was not till the invention of the cotton- 
gin by Whitney in 1792 that it began to assume the 
national and even world-wide importance it afterwards 
attained. Prosperity now became as general as it was 
rapid, and the history of the United States — unlike the 
chronicle of civil tumult and foreign wars, which consti- 
tutes so much of the history of the East — presents a 
record of uniform progress pursued amidst almost un- 
broken peace. The unimportant difficulty with Tripoli, 
the brief maritime war of 1812, and the invasion of Mexico 
in 1845, constitute the only interruptions of a repose 
which continued from the close of the year 1782 till 
the commencement of 1861, a period of nearly eighty 
years. 



INTRODUCTION. 7 

The great civil war recently ended is the only event 
which has seriously menaced the nnity and progress of the 
United States. That struggle was, however, but the 
explosion of moral elements preparatory to entering into 
a more intimate and compact union. The two vessels which', 
by a singular coincidence, first landed during the same 
year Puritans and negroes on the shores of America, had 
unconsciously sown the seeds of oligarchy a*nd democracy 
side by side. These principles, so opposite in their nature, 
could exist together only so long as imperfect means of 
communication caused the two sections of the Union to be 
in effect separate communities. The growth of commerce 
and the increase of travel consequent upon the introduc- 
tion of railways and steam navigation, brought them into 
closer and closer contact, until, like two clouds strongly 
charged with opposite electricities, they encountered each 
other with a shock which for a while seemed to threaten 
the existence of the nation. Now that peace again reigns 
over the vast area of the Union, as profound and apparently 
secure as if never disturbed, the great conflict may be 
regarded as a guarantee of future prosperity, rather than a 
proof of inherent weakness or defects iu American insti- 
tutions. The Republic already possessed, in a greater degree 
than any community of equal extent, ancient or modern, 
unity in laws, customs, manners, language. One anta- 
gonistic element still existed — the institution of slavery ; 
and it only remained to remove this deformity in order to 
render complete the symmetry and unity of their institu- 
tions. Thi3 the social revolution of 1861 has accomplished, 
and thus every obstacle has been removed from the path of 
improvement. Possessed of boundless natural resources, 
free institutions, and an intelligent and energetic people, 
the future progress of the United States promises to be 
even greater than that which has characterized the past. 



CHxPTEiH L 



GENERAL YIEW — MOUNTAINS — GEOLOGICAL FEA- 
TURES— SOIL— RIVERS— LAKES— CLIMATE— ZOOLOGY 
—VEGETATION. 



GENERAL VIEW. 

The present domain of the United States occupies the 
central portion of the Continent of North America, extend- 
ing from British Territory on the north to Mexico and 
the Mexican Gulf on the south, a distance of 1730 miles, 
and from the Atlantic Ocean on the east to the Pacific on 
the west, a distance of about 3000 miles. The area of the 
entire country is more than 3,000,000 square miles, with a 
frontier of 10,000 miles, more than half of which is com- 
posed of ocean and lake shores. Since the close, of the 
revolutionary war in 1783, the limits of the Union have 
been extended by the purchase of Louisiana from France in 
1803, and of Florida from Spain in 1819, which added to 
the national domain an area of 966,000 square miles. In 
1846 Texas, with an area of about 318,000 square miles, 
was annexed, and in 1848 a portion of Mexico was acquired, 
measuring about 516,000 square miles ; making an aggre- 
gate acquisition of 1,800,000 square miles during sixty- 
five years. 

The Union was first formed by the confederation 
of Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Massachusetts, Mary- 



GENERAL VIEW. V 

land, New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, North 
Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, 
and Virginia, which are termed the " Original Thirteen 
States." This number has since been increased by the 
admission of twenty- three new States, viz.: — Alabama, 
Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, 
Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, 
Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, 
Tennessee, Texas, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. These 
thirty-six States, with ten "Territories" and the District 
of Columbia, embrace the entire area of the country. 
The Territories are Arizona, Colorado, Dacotah, Indian 
Territory, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Utah, 
and Washington. More than half their area is embraced 
in the immense valley included between the Rocky Moun- 
tains and the Alleghanies, and bisected by the Mississippi 
River. A most remarkable feature of the United States 
is the low plain, from fifty to one hundred miles wide, 
which extends along the Atlantic coast. Beyond this 
plain the land rises towards the interior till it termi- 
nates in the Alleghanies. The rest of the country east of 
the Mississippi is agreeably diversified. The soil of the 
low country, except along the water-courses, is sandy, and 
comparatively unproductive ; but the remainder has a 
strong fertile soil, capable of supplying a dense population. 
The Pacific slope is exceedingly diversified, abounding in 
wild and majestic scenery, and traversed by magnificent 
rivers. Much, however, of its interior is desert. The great 
California desert, indeed, is one of the dreariest regions of 
the world, the solitude being relieved only by a few oases 
in the neighbourhood of streams, or on the borders of the 
numerous lakes. 



10 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

MOUNTAINS. 

The territory of the United States is traversed by two 
principal mountain chains : the Alleghanies, extending 
from New Hampshire to Alabama ; and the Rocky Moun- 
tains, extending from the British possessions to Mexico. 

" Mountains that enfold, 
In their wide sweep, the coloured landscape round, 
Like groups of giant kings, in purple and gold, 
That guard the enchanted ground." 

These chains divide the country into three distinct 
regions. The first of these is the Atlantic slope, including 
the eastern declivity of the Alleghany Mountains, and the 
basins drained by the rivers that flow from them to the 
ocean. The second is the basin of the Mississippi, or more 
properly of the Missouri, comprising the vast central valley 
watered by these rivers and their innumerable tributaries. 
The third region, or the Pacific slope, is enclosed between 
the shores of this ocean and the chain of the Rocky Moun- 
tains, which divides it from the former. Each of these 
divisions, surpassing most of the European kingdoms in 
size, has its own peculiar features, and is distinguished by 
soil, climate, and natural productions. 

The Alleghanies consist principally of a long plateau, 
crested with several chains of mountains or hills, separated 
from each other by wide and elevated valleys. East of the 
Hudson the mountains are chiefly granite, with rounded 
summits, often covered at their tops with bogs and turf, 
and distributed in irregular groups without any marked 
direction. In Pennsylvania and Virginia they assume the 
form of long parallel ridges, varying in height from 2500 to 
4000 feet, and occupying the breadth of one hundred miles. 
In the northern part of Georgia, where they terminate, 



MOUNTAINS. 11 

they again lose the form of continuous chains, and break 
into groups of nearly isolated mountains, some of which 
attain a considerable elevation. The Rocky Mountains 
are a continuation northward of the Cordilleras of Central 
America and Mexico, and traverse in several ranges an 
area 1000 miles from east to west, embracing in all its 
parts nearly 1,000,000 square miles. The most easterly 
of these ranges runs through the Territories of New Mexico, 
Colorado and Nebraska, and forms the dividing line 
between Dacotah and Washington. The next great range 
of the Rocky Mountains towards the west, is called the 
Wahsatch Mountains, lying south of Great Salt Lake. In 
Utah these mountains spread over a wide district, and the 
ridges of the several peaks lie in various directions. The 
western portion of the Rocky Mountain chain enters the 
United States on the south from Lower California, and 
soon branches into two ranges, the highest of which, the 
Sierra Nevada, runs at the distance of about 160 miles 
from the Pacific, while the inferior parallel ridges, known 
as the Coast Range, keep within 10 to 50 miles of the 
ocean, to mingle again with the Sierra Nevada, where 
Mount Shasta reaches an elevation of 14,000 feet. 

The White and Monadnock Mountains, in New Hamp- 
shire; Mount Katahdin, in Maine; Mount Tom, Mount 
Holyoke, and Wachusett, in Massachusetts; the Cat- 
skills - , Adirondacs, and Alleghanies, in New York ; Schoo- 
leys Mount, in New Jersey ; and Pilot Mountain, in North 
Carolina, are celebrated in their surpassing wildness and 
beauty, as indeed are all the great mountain ranges of both 
the Pacific and Atlantic slopes, and afford endless scenes 
of picturesqueness and sublimity. 



12 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

GEOLOGICAL FEATURES. 

If we draw a line from New York to the east end of Lake 
Ontario, the peninsula lying north-east between the St. Law- 
rence and the sea, consists of primitive interspersed with 
some patches of secondary rocks. From this line southward 
the country has a different geological character. A belt of 
alluvial soil, beginning at Long Island, extends along the 
shore of all the Southern States to Natchez, on the Missis- 
sippi, having an average breadth of a hundred miles, and 
probably including all Florida except some high ground in 
the interior. It is everywhere penetrated by the tide 
water in the rivers. On the west side of this is a region 
of primitive rocks from 100 to 200 miles broad, in which 
gneiss predominates. It embraces the eastern ridges of 
the Alleghanies with the rolling country at their foot. On 
the west side of this again is a long narrow zone of transi- 
tion rocks, including the western ridges of the Alleghanies, 
and extending from Lake Champlain to the north-west 
angle of Georgia. 

One of the most remarkable circumstances connected 
with the primitive rocks is the granite ridge which forms 
the boundary between the primitive and the alluvial regions. 
This ridge appears to have been the ancient line of the 
sea-coast in the Southern and Middle States, and very 
probably through Connecticut. 

New England rests on a bed of granite and marble ; the 
Middle States on sandstone and freestone ; and the greater 
part of the Ohio River region has a foundation of lime- 
stone. 

The oldest known strata in the crusts of the earth, the 
Laurentian series, consisting of gneiss, more or less granitic, 
quartz rock, limestones, dolomites, conglomerates, and in 
the upper portion of feldspathic rocks, occur in the 



man 







! -^ 






Mftr ' 




GEOLOGICAL FEATURES. 13 

Adirondac region of northern New York. The Green 
Mountains, the White Mountains, and a greater portion of 
the New England States, consist of crystalline formations 
of a more recent date, marked by the absence of argil- 
laceous, talcose, and chloritic schists, and by various other 
characteristics. 

The next overlying series, known as the Huronian, 
and regarded by Murchison as the equivalent of the 
Cambrian sandstones, is found in Michigan and the 
southern shore of Lake Superior. Though these rocks 
have been classed as azoic, indications are found of their 
having been originally sedimentary deposits, abounding in 
organic bodies, the forms of which have been dislodged 
by the metamorphic action to which they have been 
subjected. 

In Massachusetts, the central portion of North Caro- 
lina, and in Georgia, occur the oldest fossiliferous rocks, 
known as the "Taconic system," and characterized by 
ancient genera of trilobites. Some geologists maintain 
that some of the sandstones in Iowa and Minnesota should, 
by reason of their fossils, be placed in this system. 

The crystalline and schistose strata of New England, 
the highlands of New York and New Jersey, and extend- 
ing through the Appalachian chain to Alabama, have been 
variously classed, some considering that as they consist of 
feldspathic gneiss, quartz rocks, talcose, and chloritic 
slates, they form the base of the Appalachian system. 
Others consider them as the metamorphosed sandstones, 
etc., of the lower Silurian series. 

From this range westward, the whole country to the 
Rocky Mountains, with the exception of the Ozark moun- 
tain region, in Southern Missouri, and a few localities in 
Wisconsin and the northern peninsula of Michigan, 
contain no crystalline rocks. 



14 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

The lower Silurian limestones come np to the surface at 
Cincinnati, Ohio, at Frankfort, Kentucky, and at Nashville, 
Tennessee. The Carboniferous series whenever met with, 
is the uppermost formation, excepting in Illinois, Iowa, 
and Kansas, where the Permian strata have been recog- 
nized. The great plains that extend from the Missouri 
and up the valleys of the Arkansas, "Red River, to the 
Rocky Mountains, are almost exclusively occupied by 
cretaceous rocks, sometimes overlaid with those of the 
tertiary age. Florida, Louisiana, and the coasts from 
Texas to Martha's Vineyard, are composed of the tertiary, 
the older strata cropping out inland. 

The Cretaceous formation rests principally on the meta- 
morphic belt of the Appalachian, rising to the higher plat- 
form of those rocks, the ascent south of New York 
being marked by the first or lowest falls of the rivers, and 
determining the head of their navigation. This formation 
passes across New Jersey and Northern Delaware, from 
New Tork Bay to the head of Chesapeake Bay, occurs at 
a few points in Virginia, near Wilmington, North Caro- 
lina, and through Central South Carolina and Georgia ; 
thence it stretches in a broad continuous belt, through 
Central Alabama, Northern Mississippi, and Western Ten- 
nessee. 

A narrow belt of red sandstone occurs along the lower 
valley of the Connecticut, continued through New Jersey, 
across Pennsylvania, into Virginia. 

The newer Pliocene is met with only in a few localities 
in the southern part of Maine, and on the borders of Lake 
Champlain. 

The drift formation covers all the northern part of the 
United Stales, the limit southward being lat. 40 . The 
deposits of alluvium are mostly confined to the borders of 
the rivers and lakes, the most extensive and remarkable 



GEOLOGICAL FEATURES. 15 

alluvial tract being that around the month of the Mis- 
sissippi, where it spreads out into a delta of broad area. 

In the Rocky Mountains, the metamorphic rocks of the 
Appalachian are repeated on a grander scale. Between 
the numerous ridges are wide belts of the cretaceous strata 
and modern tertiary deposits. These form the plains and 
slopes which stretch out towards the Pacific. In the 
mountainous districts are found all the formations from the 
lower crystalline groups to the coal, often traversed by 
great dikes of trappean and other eruptive rocks. 

Beyond the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Mountains, 
and on the Colorado River, is a volcanic district, extending 
to the Pacific. It consists chiefly of tertiary strata, which 
have been so broken up by movements of the crust and 
volcanic eruptions, as to present an excessively rugged and 
diversified structure. 

The metals of the United States are principally found 
in the crystalline rocks, the exceptions being the copper 
region of Lake Superior, and some of the western lead and 
iron mines, frequently in sandstone. 

In the Atlantic division, the metals follow the Appala- 
chian range. In the Pacific division they follow the 
Rocky Mountain and Sierra Nevada ranges ; the debris 
from which, swept down into the tertiary strata, have 
furnished these with the precious metals in large deposits. 

'Except a few small insulated fields, all the bituminous 
coal in the United States lies west of the Appalachian 
chain, where a vast series of coal-beds stretch from the 
mountains westwards through Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, 
parts of Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama, into the State 
of Mississippi, and even as far as 200 miles beyond the 
Mississippi River. Anthracite coal, or that best suited for 
manufactures, lies at the northern extremity of this great 
field, in Pennsylvania, in the western parts of Virginia, 



16 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

in part of Ohio, and in Illinois. In the central portion 
of the lower peninsula of Michigan is a coal-field of some 
extent, and another and larger one spreads over nearly 
the whole of Iowa, Northern Missouri, and a large part of 
Kansas. 



SOIL. 



The soil presents almost every variety, from dry 
sterile plains in the vicinity of the Great Salt Lake, to the 
rich alluvia of the Mississippi Valley. It may be divided 
into seven great divisions, indicated by the river systems 
of the country ; viz., the St. Lawrence basin, the Atlantic 
slope, the Mississippi valley, the Texas slope, the Pacific 
slope, the inland basin of Utah (sometimes called the 
Great or Fremont basin), and the basin of the Red River 
of the North. 1. The St. Lawrence basin embraces parts 
of Vermont, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, 
Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and all of Michigan ; it 
is an elevated and fertile plain, generally well wooded. 
2. The Atlantic slope includes all New England, except a 
part of Vermont, all of New Jersey, Delaware, the Dis- 
trict of Columbia, South Carolina and Florida, and portions 
of New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North 
Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. It may be 
sub- divided into two regions, a North-East and a South- 
West section, separated by the Hudson River. The 
former is hilly, and generally better adapted to grazing 
than tillage, though some parts are generally fertile, and 
a large proportion is carefully cultivated. The South- 
West section may be again divided into a coast belt from 
30 to 150 miles in width, running from Long Island round 
to the mouth of the Mississippi, and including the whole 



SOIL. 17 

peninsula of Florida, and an inland slope from the moun- 
tains towards this coast belt. The inland slope is one of 
the finest districts in the United States, the soil consisting 
for the most part of alluvium from the mountains, and the 
decomposed primitive rocks which underlie the surface. 
3. The Mississippi valley occupies more than two-fifths of 
the area of the republic, and extends from the Alleghany 
to the Rocky Mountains, and from the Gulf of Mexico to 
British North America, including parts of New York, Penn- 
sylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia 
Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Ohio, 
Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota, and all of Ken- 
tucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, and 
Kansas. It is for most part a prairie country, of fertility 
unsurpassed anywhere on the globe, except perhaps the 
valleys of the Amazon and the Nile. At the north-west 
of the valley there is a desert plateau ranging from 200 to 
400 miles, lying at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, at 
an elevation of from 2000 to 4000 feet above the sea, the 
greater portion of which is incapable of cultivation, owing 
to the deficiency of rain and want of means of irrigation, and 
a part naturally barren. 4. The Texas slope includes the 
country south-west of the Mississippi valley, drained by 
rivers which flow into the Gulf of Mexico, and embraces 
nearly all of Texas, and parts of New Mexico and Louisiana. 
It may be divided into three regions: a coast belt, wide> low 
and very fertile, especially in the river bottoms ; a rich 
prairie extending from the coast belt, well suited for grazing; 
and a lofty tableland in the north-west, perfectly devoid 
of trees, and almost devoid of grass, and during a por- 
tion of the year completely parched with drought. Almost 
the only arable land in this last division is found in the 
valleys of the Rio Grande. 5. The Pacific slope embracing the 
greater part of California, Oregon, and Washington Terri- 

2 



18 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OP AMERICA. 

tory, and parts of ISTew Mexico and Utah, is generally sterile, 
though the valleys between the Coast range and the Cascade 
range and Sierra Nevada are very fertile ; as are also a few 
valleys and slopes among the Wahsatch and Rocky Moun- 
tains, though the latter are better adapted to pasturage 
than to agriculture. 6. The great inland basin of Utah, 
which includes, beside Utah, parts of New Mexico, Cali- 
fornia, Oregon, and Washington, is, probably, the most 
desolate portion of the United States. It abounds in salt 
lakes, and there are only a few valleys where the soil ac- 
quires by irrigation sufficient fertility to afford a support 
for man. 7. That portion of the basin of the Red River of 
the North which belongs to the United States, is confined 
to the small tract on the north part of Dacotah and Min- 
nesota. It contains very productive lands, especially in 
the river bottoms. 

On the east side of the Ozark chain of mountains is 
the Great Swamp, 200 miles long and 20 broad, which is 
converted into a lake by the annual overflow of the Mis- 
sissippi, but is dry during the heats of summer, and ren- 
dered at all times impenetrable by a thick growth of 
cypress. The country round it is rush bottom or meadow 
land, clothed with excellent timber. Of the basin of the 
Mississippi altogether it may be observed that the western 
side is a barren desert ; the middle contains much good 
land, but abounds in swamps ; the east side, comprehend- 
ing the basin of the Ohio, is the richest and most eligible 
for human habitation. Vegetation, especially the larger 
growth, increases continually as we advance from the Rocky 
Mountains to the Atlantic ; a proof, perhaps, that the 
summer heat, and the quantity of atmospheric moisture 
follow a similar law. 



RIVERS. 19 



RIVERS. 



The chief rivers of the United States may be appro- 
priately divided into three classes. First. — The Mississippi, 
the " Father of Waters," and its wide-spread branches, 
which drain the central region. Second. — The rivers east 
of the Alleghanies, which drain the Atlantic slope. Third. 
— The rivers west of the Rocky Monntains, which drain 
the Pacific slope. To these may be added the class of 
smaller rivers, which flow into the Gnlf of Mexico from 
the southern slope of the Alleghanies and the north- 
western high lands of Texas. 

The Mississippi River rises in a small lake named Itasca 
situated in the northern portion of Minnesota, near the 
British Possessions, and flows south-east about 500 miles to 
the Falls of St. Anthony, below which it is navigable for 
steamboats to the Gulf of Mexico, a distance of about 
2700 miles. This river forms the eastern boundary of 
Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, and the western boundary of 
Wisconsin, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Mississippi? 
while it divides the State of Louisiana, flowing finally into 
the Gulf of Mexico through several mouths. It is com- 
puted to convey to the Mexican Gulf one thirty-eighth 
part of all the water which flows into the ocean, and 
drains an eminently fertile country of over one million 
square miles in extent. Its principal tributaries are the 
Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio, and Yazoo rivers on the east ; 
the Minnesota, Des Moines, Missouri, Arkansas, and Red 
rivers on the west. Of these the Ohio, the Mississippi, 
and its tributary the Missouri, form a grand natural high- 
way for commerce many thousand miles in length. It has 
three bars at its mouth, the deepest of which affords 
only seventeen feet of water. Sloops of this draught 
can navigate to Natchez, 350 miles from its mouth. 



20 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

There is depth sufficient at all times for steamers drawing 
twelve feet to the Ohio, and for steamers drawing three feet 
to the junction with the Missouri ; but during the floods, 
which prevail during half the year, the waters rise fifty feet, 
and are then navigable by vessels of any size. Of the 
two great branches, the Missouri and the Mississippi 
proper, the former stream is the larger and more rapid, 
and also more turbid, from the quantity of travelled soil it 
transports ; but its waters generally occupying a wider 
channel, are more obstructed with bars and sand-banks ; 
and its navigation is more intricate and dangerous. The 
Platte, Kansas, and some other tributaries of the Missouri, 
often extend to a breadth of one or two miles, but during 
the warm season become almost dry. Yet these, and many 
of the branches of both rivers, generally admit of steamboat 
navigation for three-fourths of their course, during a longer 
or shorter period every year. The length of the Mississippi, 
from its mouth to the junction of the Ohio, is about 1200 
miles, and to its junction with the Missouri, 1300. The 
length of the Missouri, above the junction to its remotest 
branch, is, by Lewis and Clarke's measurement, 2575 miles. 
The length of the Ohio above the point of confluence is 
1188 miles. The other large branches of the Mississippi 
are the Red River and the Arkansas, in the lower part of 
its course. The chief tributaries of the Missouri are the 
Osage, Platte, Kansas, and Yellow Stone ; of the Ohio, the 
Tennessee, Cumberland, Wabash, and Kanawha. The whole 
extent of the navigable waters above the confluence of the 
Missouri and Mississippi has been estimated at 23,000 
miles, to which if we add 12,000 for the Ohio, Arkansas, 
Red River, etc., and their branches, we shall have 
35,000 miles of boat navigation in the basin of the 
Mississippi. 

Prom the mouth of the Missouri to the Gulf, 



mvEi:s. 21 

a distance of over twelve hundred miles, the average 
width of the Mississippi is one mile. The medial current 
is about four miles an hour, in one continuous flow, 
there being no tides. 

The spring flood, owing to the vast extent of country 
drained, is very great. It usually commences in March, 
and does not begin to subside till the end of June. 

From the mouth of the Ohio, as far down as Vicks- 
burg, the water rises fifty feet. Here the flood begins to 
decline ; at Port Hudson it seldom exceeds thirty feet, and 
at ISTew Orleans twelve feet. The average depth of water 
at the lowest stage, from Vicksburg to the mouth, is 125 
feet. Formerly, during the annual floods, it overflowed the 
land for 800 miles from its mouth, to a distance of from ten 
to thirty miles on each side, with the exception of an incon- 
siderable portion at Vicksburg, Baton Rouge, Port Hud- 
son, and one or two other points, where the high land 
extends to the river. 

The turbid waters of the river during these annual 
overflows contain a rich alluvial soil, swept from the 
north, and held in suspension by the rapid current, until 
its rapidity is checked by spreading over the adjacent 
swamps. 

The quantify of sediment thus conveyed to the Gulf, 
or deposited upon the banks of the river in the lower part 
of its course, is immense ; Sir Charles Lyell adopting the 
estimate of Dr. Riddle, of New Orleans, that the sediment 
is l-3000th part of the volume of water, calculated the 
depth of the delta, or alluvial formation at the mouth, to 
be one-tenth of a mile ; " the area of the delta being 
about 13, GOO square statute miles, and the quantity of 
solid matter annually brought down by the river, 
3,702,758,400 cubic feet, it must have taken 67,000 years 
for the formation of the whole."' It has been estimated 



22 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OP AMERICA. 

that 40 per cent, of the water of the Mississippi is lost 
in the swamps of Missouri and Northern Arkansas alone, 
and as a proportionate, or more than proportionate, part of 
the sediment is deposited before reaching the Gulf, some 
idea may be formed of the immense quantity of alluvium 
added to the swamps and bottom-lands upon the banks. 

The freshets, while thus yearly adding to the " made 
land," as it is called, of the valley, sometimes reverse the 
process, and bear away to the Gulf many a fine domain. 

The "made land" is extremely fertile, and along the 
banks of the river are a succession of the finest cotton 
and sugar plantations in the whole South. Extensive em- 
bankments have been constructed at great expense on each 
side of the river for nearly 1000 miles, to protect the 
land from inundation. They are from five to fifteen feet 
high, and the water at the time of the flood rises to within 
one foot of the top. Thus the entire country along the river 
is, at time of high water, much below the level of the 
river, and subject to occasional overflow by the breaking 
of the levees. The course of the river is constantly 
changing, and wherever the current strikes the bank, the 
light and sandy soil gives way, and often by a sudden 
freak of the river a portion of the levee is carried away 
before a new one can be thrown up in the rear of it, and 
the country for miles is inundated. 

There have been numerous " cut-offs" made in this 
river by its forming a new channel across the isthmus 
of a large bend. The tide once turned across a penin- 
sula, the resistless current soon carries everything before 
it, and the heaviest growth of timber being rapidly under- 
mined, apparently furnishes no impediment to it. When- 
ever these cut-offs occur, the old channel gradually fills up, 
or forms a lake. 

The accumulations of drift in some cases have become 



RIVERS. 



so enormous that they have seriously obstructed naviga- 
tion. Such an accumulation culminated in an arm of the 
river — the Atchafalaya — in the year 1316, having been 
gradually forming during a period of nearly forty years. 
It was ten miles in length, 600 feet wide, and eight feet 
deep, and although so unstable as to rise and fall with the 
river, was covered with trees of a considerable height. 
The State of Louisiana, after incurring heavy outlay 
for four years, at 
obstruction. 



length succeeded in removing the 




STEAMERS ON THE MISSISSIPPI. 



Of the upper tributaries of the Mississippi, the 
principal are the Des Moines, St. Croix, and Wisconsin, all 
navigable streams of some commercial importance. On 
the western, or Bocky Mountain slope, from which the 
" Father of Waters" receives at least three-fourths of its 
immense volume, by far the longest tributary is the 
Missouri. 



2i DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

The Missouri (mud river) properly forms one stream 
with the Mississippi, being much superior to the " Father 
of Waters" in length and volume at the point of con- 
fluence. It rises in Nebraska, near the boundary between 
that Territory and Oregon, among the Rocky Mountains. It 
has its source in several smaller streams. Running first 
north, then east, and finally assuming a general direction 
to the south-east, and forming a portion of the dividing- 
line of Nebraska, Iowa, and Kansas ; it then flows through 
the entire State of Missouri, and joins the Mississippi 
1410 miles from the debouchure of the latter into the Gulf 
of Mexico. The distance from its source to its junction 
with the Mississippi is 3096 miles, which, added to 1410 
for the lower course of the latter, makes the whole length 
4506 miles. The Missouri is navigable by steamboats 
without serious obstruction to the Great Falls, a distance 
of 2540 miles from the confluence of the Mississippi, or 
3950 miles from the Gulf of Mexico ! Its stream is 
turbid and rapid, and, as its name implies, unusually 
charged with sediment. Its width at its mouth is over 
half a mile, and in many places much greater. Its prin- 
cipal tributaries are the Yellow Stone, Little Missouri, 
Platte, or Nebraska, Kansas, Osage, Milk, Dacotah, Big 
Sioux, and Grand. 

The Yellow Stone drains the larger part of Nebraska, and 
is 800 yards wide at its mouth. The Little Missouri is 
300 miles long, the Platte 600 miles long, the Dacotah 
500 miles, and the Great Sioux 300 miles in length. The 
Missouri, with its tributaries, drains an area of 519,400 
square miles. 

The St. Francis rises in the Ozark Mountains of 
Missouri, and flows into the Mississippi a short distance 
above Helena, and about 400 miles south of the mouth of the 
Missouri. The navigation, difficult and dangerous before, 



RIYEES. 25 

was rendered even more intricate by the earthquake of 
1811, when a considerable extent of country was submerged, 
and a lake fifty miles long and five to twenty miles in 
breadth, formed along the course of the river. 

White River rises also in the Ozark Mountains, in 
north-west Arkansas, and after making a detour into 
southern Missouri, flows south into the Mississippi, twelve 
miles above the mouth of the Arkansas "River. It is 600 
miles in length, and is navigable for steamers 260 miles. 
Its principal tributaries are the Black and Spring rivers, 
which have a joint steamboat navigation of 150 miles. 

The Washita waters the most beautiful, healthful, and 
fertile portion of the State of Arkansas. It is navigable 
for steamboats for about 350 miles from its mouth. 

The Red River is formed by the confluence of two 
branches, of whicli the southern rises in New Mexico, and 
the northern in Texas. It empties into the Mississippi 
341 miles from its mouth. The entire length of this 
stream is 2100 miles. It is subject to heavy inundations, 
which cause continual changes in its channel, and render 
the navigation somewhat intricate and dangerous. 
Shreveport, in north-west Louisiana, is the limit of navi- 
gation, being the point near which commences that im- 
mense collection of trees and drift wood known as " The 
Great Raft." This raft extends sixty or seventy miles up 
the river, and spreads out a distance of twenty to thirty 
miles, and has hitherto defied every effort made to 
remove it. 

Arkansas River, after the Missouri, the longest branch 
of the Mississippi, rises in the Rocky Mountains, and after 
passing through the State of Arkansas, empties into the 
Mississippi. It has an unobstructed navigation far beyond 
the limits of the State of Arkansas, into the Indian Terri- 
tory. Its total length is 2000 miles. 



26 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

Of the tributaries and sub-tributaries of the Missis- 
sippi which rise in the Alleghany Mountains, south of 
the great lakes, the most considerable are the Illinois, the 
Wabash, the Ohio, the Cumberland, the Tennessee, and the 
Yazoo. 

The Illinois rises in the north-eastern part of the 
State of Illinois, about forty-five miles from Lake 
Michigan, and empties into the Mississippi twenty miles 
above the mouth of the Missouri. It is 500 miles in 
length, and possesses a high- water steamboat navigation of 
245 miles. 

The Wabash has its source in Ohio, and flows into the 
Ohio River, 140 miles above the confluence of that river 
with the Mississippi. It is 550 miles long, and at high 
water navigable by steamboats a distance of more than 
300 miles. 

The Ohio River has its source in the head waters of the 
Monongahela and Alleghany. The Monongahela rises on 
the western slope of the Alleghany Mountains, in western 
Virginia, the Alleghany in western New York, and the 
junction of the two streams takes place at Pittsburg, Penn- 
sylvania. Steamers of the larger class ascend the 
Monongahela sixty miles beyond Pittsburg ; and the 
Alleghany is navigable by small steamers for 200 miles. 
The navigation of these streams, and that of the Ohio 
itself, is obstructed by ice during about two months of 
winter, and also for a month or two of summer by low 
water. The steamers plying between Louisville, Ken- 
tucky, and New Orleans, some of them between three and 
four hundred feet in length, are unsurpassed in elegance 
and speed by any in the world. The voyage of 1440 miles up 
the two rivers is often accomplished in less than five days. 

The Ohio is a beautiful stream. Its charming valleys 
and picturesque cliffs so struck the imagination of the 



MVEKS. 27 

early French settlers, that they gave it the appellation of 
" La Belle Riviere." The current is very gentle, averaging 
only abont three miles an hour. The only falls of any 
note are those at Louisville, Kentucky. The descent here 
is twenty-two and a half feet to the mile, producing a rapid 
current, which, however, is easily ascended by boats 
during high water. This obstruction to navigation has been 
partially overcome by a canal admitting the passage of 
steamers of 180 feet in length. The Ohio contains over 
100 islands. The area drained by this river and its 
branches is about 202,400 square miles. Its width varies 
from 1200 to 4000 feet. The navigable waters of the Ohio 
and tributaries are more than 5000 miles. 

The Tennessee River forms the chief affluent of the 
Ohio which it joins at Paducah. It is navigable for steam- 
boats nearly 800 miles. The scenery of the upper and 
middle Tennessee is extremely beautiful, the landscape 
being varied with verdant mountains, precipitous cliffs, and 
charming pastoral lands. In the neighbourhood of Chat- 
tanooga, where the Look-out Mountain lifts its bold crest, 
the view of the valley of the Tennessee, and the capricious 
windings of the river, is especially attractive. From some 
of the higher peaks near Chattanooga, the vision may 
range over the mountains and valleys of four States. 

Cumberland River, a tributary of the Ohio, rises in the 
valley between the Laurel and Cumberland Mountains, and 
flows into the Ohio, fifty miles above the confluence oi 
that river with the Mississippi. The Cumberland is nearly 
GOO miles long, and is navigable by steamboats to Nash- 
ville, Tennessee, a distance of 200 miles. 

The Great Kanawha rises in the Blue Ridge, and flows 
through West Virginia into the Ohio. Its entire length is 
400 miles, and it attains in some places a width of 500 yards. 
It is navigable by steamboats at all times to Charleston, 



SO DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

over 100 miles. The area drained by it and its affluents is 
more tlian 10,000 square miles. Along its banks are many 
fertile and beautiful valleys. It passes through a region 
abundant in coal and mineral springs, particularly in salt 
springs, which annually furnish a large quantity of salt. 
The Elk River, a branch of the Great Kanawha, is a beau- 
tiful stream flowing through West Virginia, and uniting 
with the latter river at Charleston. Its length is 200 
miles, and it is navigable for more than half that distance. 

The principal rivers which flow into the Gulf of Mexico 
are the Pearl, the Alabama, the Appalachicola, on the east, 
and the Brazos, Trinity, Sabine, Guadalupe, Rio Grande, 
and Colorado, on the west of the Mississippi. 

The Chattahoocha, 500 miles in length, is navigable to 
Columbus, 350 miles. It is joined by the Flint River 100 
miles from the Gulf, and forms the Appalachicola. This latter 
stream with its branches drains an area of about 20,000 
square miles, and has a tide which extends about GO miles. 

The Alabama is formed by the union of the Coosa and 
Tallapoosa. It is navigable by large steamers at all seasons 
as far as Montgomery, about 300 miles. On its banks are 
some of the largest cotton plantations in the South, 
and the lands through which it passes are of great fer- 
tility. 

The Tombigbee unites with the Alabama, and is 
navigable to Columbus, in Mississippi, 360 miles. The 
united streams form the Mobile River, which falls into 
Mobile Bay. 

The Colorado, in Texas, is over 900 miles in length, and 
is navigable for a third of that distance by small steamers. 
It is a clear and beautiful stream, flowing through a country 
of great fertility. 

The Brazos, in Texas, the next largest river to the 
Colorado, is 900 miles in length, navigable by steamboats 



RIVERS. 29 

to "Washington, 300 miles, at high water, and to Columbia 
40 miles, at all times. The Trinity, in the same State, is 550 
miles in length, and navigable by steamboats 350 miles. 
The Sabine, the Guadalupe, and the San Antonio are 
also navigable rivers in Texas. 

The Rio Grande, 1800 miles in length, rises in the 
Rocky Mountains, and forms the boundary line between 
Texas and Mexico. Small steamers have ascended to Kings- 
bury, 450 miles. 

The following are the principal rivers on the Atlantic 
slope. They all rise in the Alleghanies, except the Sus- 
quehannah and the Hudson : — 



Connecticut 400 

Hudson 300 

Delaware 320 

Susquehannah 350 

Potomac 260 

James River 200 



MILES. 

Roanoke 230 

Pedee 290 

Santee 300 

Savannah 280 

Mohawk 200 



The Hudson, also known as " the North River," has its 
source in the Adirondac Mountains, whence it flows in 
two small streams, which unite after a distance of 40 
miles. Its length is about 300 miles, and below Albany its 
breadth varies from 300 to 900 yards, and at Tappan Bay, 
20 miles above New York, it widens to the extent of four 
or five miles. The steamers on the Hudson are among 
the finest in the world, and to it belongs the honour of 
having borne the first steamboat that was ever launched. 
The Hudson is celebrated for the beauty of its scenery, 
and is navigable for ships to the town of Hudson, 130 miles 
from its mouth, and for steamboats to Troy, 170 miles. 
This peculiar advantage has made it the scene of a 
more active inland trade than any river, perhaps, in the 



30 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

world, of the same magnitude. The Mohawk, a tributary 
of the Hudson, enters it about three miles above Troy. Its 
length is about 200 miles, and it affords abundant water 
power at several places. The Susquehannah is a beautiful 
river of Pennsylvania and Maryland, and is formed by the 
junction of two branches, which unite 60 miles above 
Harrisburg. Its length is about 350 miles, and its width 
varies from 300 yards to a mile. It has many beautiful 
islands, and the channel is frequently obstructed by 
rapids ; navigation is therefore difficult. The Connecticut, 
the largest river in New England, is a most picturesque 
and beautiful stream. Its source is a few miles beyond 
Connecticut Lake, through which it passes. Its entire 
length is about 400 miles, and its width varies from 150 
to 1000 feet. It is navigable for vessels drawing eight 
feet of water to Hartford, a distance of 50 miles. The 
Delaware is navigable to Philadelphia, 40 miles from its 
mouth, for the largest ships, and to Trenton Falls, 35 
miles above, for sloops. The Potomac is navigable for 
200 miles from the ocean, to Georgetown, in the District 
of Columbia, and for ships of the largest dimension to 
Washington, the national capital. The James River, in 
Virginia, 450 miles long, is navigable for steamboats and 
sloops to Richmond. The Savannah is navigable for large 
vessels to the city of Savannah, 17 miles, and for boats to 
Augusta, 130 miles. 

Tide navigation reaches a very short way up the great 
rivers in the Northern States ; but in those south of the 
Susquehannah, it reaches generally from 100 to 130 miles. 
Boats ply on these rivers much further up, but the naviga- 
tion is seldom uninterrupted. 

The principal river of the Pacific slope is the Columbia, 
1500 miles in length. The mouth of this river is obstructed 
by flats, but vessels of 300 tons can ascend a distance of 125 



LAKES. 31 

miles. Besides this river, there are the Sacramento and 
Colorado in California. The Sacramento River drains the 
great central valley of the State of California, and is navi- 
gable to Sacramento, a distance of 50 miles, and generally 
for small steamers for 150 miles further. Its whole length, 
including the Pitt River, is 500 miles. The Red River of 
the North rises in a collection of small lakes in Minnesota. 
It runs north, and after a course of 500 miles, empties 
into Lake Winnepeg, in British America. Its branches are 
very numerous. 



LAKES. 

The United States boast of more extensive lakes than 
any other country, especially in the Northern parts. The 
great chain of Northern lakes — Superior, Michigan, 
Huron, St. Clair, Erie, and Ontario — extend a distance of 
more than 1400 miles. Lake Superior, the largest and 
most westerly of the great chain, is about 400 miles in 
length, and its greatest breadth over 160 miles. Its 
estimated area is 32,000 square miles. The surface is 
about 600 feet above the Atlantic, and its mean depth is 
900 feet. It is the largest body of fresh water on the 
globe. The waves on this lake are said to be as high as 
those of the Atlantic, and the storms which brush over it 
are equally severe and violent. 

Lake Michigan is the largest lake in the United States. 
Its length is 350 miles, its greatest breadth about 90 
miles. The surface is about 600 feet above the level of 
the sea ; the depth about 900 feet ; its area is estimated to 
be 22,000 square miles. The lake is gradually moving 
westward, its waters slowly receding from the Michigan 



32 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

shore, encroach upon that of Wisconsin. It has also 
been proved that this lake has a tidal wave. 

Lake Huron is about 280 miles in length, with an 
average breadth of seventy miles, including Georgian 
Bay it is 190 miles, and an estimated area of 21,400 square 
miles. The surface of the water is elevated 578 feet 
above the level of the sea. The depth of Lake Huron is 
greater than that of any other in the chain, averaging not 
less than 1000 feet. The water is remarkably clear. This 
lake is said to contain more than 3000 islands. 

Lake St. Clair is a small body of water between 
Lakes Huron and Erie. Its extent is about 672 square 
miles. 

The mean length of Lake Erie is about 240 miles, its 
breadth 40 miles, and its elevation above the level of 
the sea is 565 feet. Its surface is 333 feet above Lake 
Ontario, the great descent being made in the Niagara 
River, which connects the two lakes, and in which are the 
Niagara Falls. The peculiar features of Lake Erie are the 
shallowness of its waters, and the clayey nature of its 
shores. 

Lake Ontario is the lowest and smallest of the chain, 
except St. Clair; it extends east and west about 180 
miles, with an average breadth of thirty-five miles, and a 
depth of about 500 feet. The elevation of its surface 
above the sea, being 234 feet, its bottom is about as far 
below the level of the ocean as its surface is above it. On 
account of its great depth, it is less disturbed by storms. 
The area of the lake is computed at 6,300 square miles, 

These great lakes are truly inland seas, and their navi- 
gation is subject to all the dangers which are incident to 
the navigation of the Baltic or the Mediterranean. With 
the exception of Lake Michigan, none of this chain of lakes 
lie wholly within the territory of the United States, the 



LAKES. 33 

others being in the Northern boundary, between the United 
States and the Canadas. 

It is computed that this chain of lakes contains above 
14,000 cubic miles of water, about three-quarters of all the 
freshwater on the globe. The extent of country drained by 
the lakes, from the north-western angle of Superior to the 
river St. Lawrence, including also the area of the lakes 
themselves, is estimated at 335,515 square miles. 

On the borders of these lakes are many towns and 
cities, the growth of which is chiefly due to the extensive 
commerce carried on by vessels of every class. Oswego, 
Buffalo, Cleveland, Sandusky, Toledo, Monroe, Detroit, 
St. Joseph, Chicago, Milwaukie, Racine, and many smaller 
ports, have like nets, so to speak, accumulated a portion of 
the vast wealth that has rushed by them over the bosom 
of the lakes. Each of these ports has a large tonnage 
employed in the transportation of produce and merchan- 
dise. The following statement shows the number, kind, 
and tonnage of vessels engaged in this commerce of the 
lakes in I860 : — 

No. Tonnage. 

Steamers 122 67,642 

Screws 134 59,784. 

Tugs 89 10,700 

Barques 58 15,386 

Brigs 78 33,747 

Schooners 1,030 210,560 



Total 1,511 397,819 

Of these the greater portion are American bottoms. 

It appears probable from the topography of northern 
Illinois that the waters of Lake Michigan, at some past 
period flowed through the Illinois river down the valley of 
the Mississippi, to the Gulf of Mexico. 

3 



34 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

Many of the lakes in New England are scarcely- 
surpassed anywhere for scenic effects. The most 
notable are Moosehead in Maine, "Winnipisogee in New 
Hampshire, and Memphremagog, which is situated 
partly in Canada and partly in Vermont. Besides these, 
there are numerous large sheets of water in New Eng- 
land, which in Europe would be classed as lakes. 

Lake George is a small but most picturesque sheet of 
water in eastern New York. It is thirty- six miles long, 
and varies from three-quarters to four miles in width. It 
is remarkable for the exceeding beauty of its scenery, its 
numerous small islands, and the exceeding transparency of 
its waters. 

The central and western parts of New York contain 
several large lakes, of which Lake Champlain is the 
principal. Its extreme length is about 130 miles ; its 
breadth varies from half a mile to fifteen miles, and it is 
navigable throughout for vessels of 100 tons. 

In Wisconsin and Minnesota are a number of lakes. 
The beauty and size of those in the latter State constitute 
one of its most remarkable geographical features. 

The most noted lakes in the Pacific region are the 
Tulare, in California, the Klanath, in Oregon, and the 
Pyramid and Great Salt Lake in Utah. The latter lies in 
a basin, or valley, of the Rocky Mountains, and is seventy- 
five miles long, by about thirty miles broad. Its surface 
is 4200 feet above the level of the sea. It has no outlet. 
The water is shallow, the depth in many extensive parts 
being not more than two or three feet. It is clear and 
transparent, but excessively salt, forming one of the 
purest and most concentrated brines in the world. No 
living thing has been found in it. It is so buoyant that a 
man may float in it with his body half out of the water. 
Though a bath in it is refreshing, the body requires to be 



CLIMATE. 85 

washed immediately in fresh water. The brine cannot be 
swallowed without danger of strangulation, and a particle 
of it in the eye causes great pain. 

In Oregon there has recently been discovered a great 
sunken lake in the Cascade Mountains. The walls are 
almost perpendicular, averaging 2000 feet down to the 
water, and leaving no beach. The depth of the water is 
unknown, and its surface is smooth and unruffled, as it lies 
so far below the surface of the mountait] that the air 
currents do not affect it. Its length is estimated at twelve 
miles, and its width at ten, and there is an island in its 
centre, having trees upon it. No man has ever been able 
to reach the water's edge. 

The Atlantic coast is indented by many noble bays — 
those of Passamaquoddy, Massachusetts, Delaware, Chesa- 
peake, beiug the principal. Several extensive sheltered 
inlets are formed by the islands off the coast, such as Long 
Island Sound, near New York, Albemarle, and Pamlico 
Sounds, in North Carolina. The coast of the Gulf of 
Mexico has also many valuable inlets, and there are a few 
on the shores of the great lakes. The great bay of San 
Francisco, in California, on the Pacific, is one of the finest 
basins in existence. The United States is furnished with 
some of the best harbours in the world. 



CLIMATE. 

The territory of the United States extends on the south 
almost to the torrid zone, and on the north reaches regions 
where frost lasts five or six months of the year, embracing 
almost every variety of climate. The mean temperature of 
Maine at one extremity is 42°, and of Cape Sable, at the 
southern point of Florida, 27°. The climate of the United 
States is exceedingly variable ; and — with the exception 



3(3 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

of the peninsula of Florida, where the proximity of the 
Atlantic on the east, and of the Gulf of Mexico on the 
south and west, produces a comparative uniformity — 
there are frequent transitions in temperature, to the 
extent of 30° in a few hours, in all seasons, and in all parts 
of the country. The summers are noted for their intense 
heat, the mercury rising sometimes as high as 100° Fah. 
This great heat, while equally intense, is not so continuous 
in the North as in the Southern States ; and in the latter, 
the heat, though Jong continued, is not so oppressive as the 
thermometer would seem to indicate. The Atlantic States 
have a mean temperature about 10° more severe than the 
same latitude in western Europe ; while, on the other hand, 
the climate of the Pacific coast is as mild as that of Italy. 
The North-Eastern States are subject to chill winds, espe- 
cially in the spring months, and cold blasts from the ice- 
fields of British North America sweep over the Northern 
States upon every great rise in the temperature further 
South. 

The seasons are also differently distributed. Phila- 
delphia has the summer of Rome and the winter of Vienna. 
In Florida, Louisiana, and some parts of Georgia, snow is 
scarcely ever seen. In Pennsylvania, snow covers the 
ground for three months of the year, in Massachusetts it 
lies four, and in Maine five months. In the two latter 
States the ice bears loaded waggons, and the sea is some- 
times frozen to a considerable distance from the coast. 
The climate in the basin of the Ohio river is the most 
equable, and possesses no very striking peculiarities. 

There are local causes affecting the climate of parti- 
cular districts which must always be taken into considera- 
tion. The lakes, for example, mitigate to some degree 
the temperature of the regions bordering on them, while 
the elevated table-lands of New Mexico. Utah, and Eastern 



CUMATB. 37 

Oregon, are rendered cooler and airier than the same 
parallels elsewhere. The following table shows the average 
temperature of each of the four seasons of the year at 
various points on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, and 
the interior : — 

Lat. Spring. Summer. Autumn. Winter. 

Fortress Monroe, Norfolk, Va. 37° 56-87° 76-57° 61-68° 40-45° 

Fort Columbus, New York ...40 42' 4874 72-10 5455 31-38 

Fort Sullivan, Eastport 44 15 40-15 60-50 47'52 23-90 

St. Louis, Missouri 38 40 54-15 76-19 55'44 32-27 

Chicago, Illinois 4152 4490 6733 48-85 25-90 

Fort Repley, Minnesota ,46 19 3933 64'94 42-91 10 1 

San Francisco, California 37 48 51*41 5733 56'83 50 86 

Astoria, Oregon 46 11 51*16 6158 5376 4243 

The atmosphere of the United States, with the excep- 
tion of some portions of the Pacific States, is remarkably- 
clear. Objects can be seen at great distances. From 
Mount Washington the Atlantic Ocean and the shore 
of Maine are perfectly visible at a distance of sixty miles. 
Another remarkable peculiarity in the air is its dryness. 
Except in swampy districts, damp in any form is unknown, 
moisture being almost immediately absorbed. 

On the Pacific coast the rains are periodical, occurring, 
as a rule, in the winter and spring months, and south of 
lat. 40° in autumn also. The sterile district between long. 
100° and the Cascade range experiences very little rainfall, 
though violent showers often fall, particularly among the 
mountains. The annual rainfall is estimated at about 3 
inches, in the inland basin of Utah 6, in the plain south of 
Columbia River 10, in the Rocky Mountains desert from 
15 to 20 inches. In summer rain is rarely seen. There 
are heavy falls of snow in the vicinity of Lake Superior 
and the Northern districts, which does not melt till the 
spring. South of the Potomac, snow is rarely seen, and 
when there is a fall, it is but of short duration. A more 
regular fall takes place in the North Atlantic States. 



38 DESCEIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF A2IERICA. 



ZOOLOGY. 

The United States contain about one-fourth of the 
known species of quadrupeds. Some are common'to both 
hemispheres, others are peculiar to the Western. Com- 
paring individuals of the same species, some are perfectly 
similar ; between others there is some difference in size, 
colour, and other particulars. In a few instances the 
animals of the Eastern hemisphere are larger than those 
of the Western, but the reverse is generally the case. 

The animal kingdom comprises the buffalo, and the 
musk ox, the moose or American elk, the long-horned 
antelope, peculiar to North America ; the Virginian deer, 
cougar, black and grisly bears, American fox, racoon, 
opossum, beaver, and glutton. The bear is of two 
species; the short-legged lives principally on vegetable 
food, and is not carnivorous ; it dozes away the winter in 
a torpid state, sucking its paws, and expending the fat 
previously acquired. The ranging bear is a large and 
voracious beast, destroying calves, sheep, pigs, and some- 
times children j in the winter it migrates southward. The 
wolf, like the bear, is found in all the States; it is a 
voracious animal, stealing into sheepfolds at night, attack- 
ing deer, hogs, and small cattle, and sometimes hunting in 
packs. The catamount is of the size of a large dog, and 
extremely ferocious, but it is rarely seen. The spotted 
tiger is scarcely seen, except in Louisiana ; it is from five to 
six feet long. The cougar, or American panther, is about 
the same size, and more common ; it destroys sheep, 
calves, and hogs, and, when hungry, will attack large 
cattle. The urchin differs in several respects from the 
European hedgehog. The lion, leopard, striped or true 



ZOOLOGY. 39 

tiger, hyena, elephant, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, and 
camelopard are unknown in America. 

Among the birds are to be found the white-headed 
eagle, and several kinds of vultures. A great many of the 
minor species are indigenous to the Old World as well as 
the New ; the eagle, pheasant, grouse, partridge, swan, 
Canadian goose, and ptarmigan, are more or less nume- 
rous. In general, the small birds of America surpass 
those of Europe in the beauty of their plumage, but are 
much inferior to them in the melody of their notes. 

Among the reptiles, the most remarkable is the alli- 
gator, or American crocodile, from 12 to 23 feet long, very 
strong and fierce. Of serpents, the rattlesnake, from 
four to six feet long, is the most formidable ; the siren 
is a native of the muddy pools of Georgia and Carolina. 

Of fishes, the cod, mackerel, salmon, and shad, are the 
most plentiful, especially in shore ; and shellfish abound in 
the rivers of the Mississippi basin. 

The domestic animals of the States are the same as 
those of Europe, the horse, ass, sheep, goat, and hog, 
having been naturalized ; rats and mice of the European 
species were also unknown in the New World till taken 
there by the early European settlers. 

It is worthy of note that the native quadrupeds have 
diminished in size and ferocity before the advance of civili- 
zation. This is especially noticeable in the larger animals, 
which have retreated to the vast plains beyond the 
back settlements. This is the case with the bison or 
buffalo, though large numbers are still to be found in the 
boundless prairies of the West. An attempt is now being 
made to acclimate the Bactrian camel in Texas and Cali- 
fornia, so far with every promise of an ultimate success. 



40 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 



VEGETATION. 

The forests of the Eastern section of the United States 
comprise 140 different kinds of trees, of which 80 are 
said to attain the height of 60 feet and upwards. Among 
them are numerous species of oak, ash, and pi?ie, the 
hickory and tulip tree, American cypress and plane, several 
magnolias, walnuts, etc. 

In the Northern regions are to be found the birch, 
American elm, red and white pine, numerous willows, sugar 
and other maples, and many herbaceous plants common to 
Northern Europe and Siberia, with few climbing or pecu- 
liar aquatic plants. 

In the Middle regions, from lat. 44 to 35°, there are 
numerous oaks, hickory, and ash trees, white plane, white 
cedar, willows, sassafras, witch hazel, red maple, yellow 
birch, some climbing and herbaceous plants, and many fine 
flowering aquatics. 

In the Southern regions, the cypress, Carolina poplar, 
Magnolia grandiflora, live oak, swamp hickory, and many 
climbing, herbaceous, and aquatic plants flourish to perfec- 
tion. South of lat. 27° the character of the vegetation 
merges in that of the tropics. 

The white pine sometimes attains a height of 200 feet, 
and the tulip tree, or poplar, one of the noblest in the 
American forests, is not unfrequently met with 120 or 
130 feet high, with a diameter of from five to eight feet. 
The magnolia, when in flower, gives to the forests of the 
South the appearance of a gigantic flower garden. The 
white cedar emits a perfume similar to that obtained by 
mixing otto of roses and turpentine. 

The forests of California and Oregon surpass those of 
every other region in the prodigious magnitude of their 



VEGETATION. 41 

trees. The red wood, a species of cypress, is sometimes 
found more than twenty feet in diameter, and of a pro- 
portionate height, and the pines of Oregon attain 300 feet 
in height, with diameter from eight to twenty feet. 

The grasses indigenous to the United States are very 
numerous. Seventy-one genera and 261 species of native 
gramineoB have been enumerated. 

Of fruit trees, the apple, pear, plum, and other hardy 
fruits, flourish in the North ; while in the South the more 
luscious pomegranates, melons, figs, grapes, olives, almonds, 
oranges, are to be found in abundance. 

The number of flowering plants is large ; each region 
has its flora, and each its characteristic blossoms. In 
general it may be said that the native flora of the United 
States comprises few or none of the great staples of food. 
The cereals and all the esculent roots are naturalized ; but 
many of them have been greatly improved by their 
transfer. Cucumbers, melons, etc., are also all naturalized, 
as are most of the fruits, especially the apple, pear, plum, 
peach, quince, and apricot. The edible berries, such as the 
strawberry, blackberry, raspberry, whortleberry, bilberry, 
cloudberry, are indigenous. The great fibrous staples, 
cotton, flax, and hemp, are naturalized plants. 



CHAPTER XL 

AGRICULTURE, MANUFACTURES, COMMERCE. 



AGRICULTURE. 

The vast and unparalleled resources of the United States 
are not as yet fully developed, though the rapid progress 
in industry and wealth made during the last few years, 
excite the most sanguine expectations of the future. In 
every department of industry, agriculture, manufactures, 
and commerce, the movement is equally rapid and sus- 
tained. Agriculture has ever been the chief pursuit, and 
agricultural products have always constituted the principal 
articles of export. The first exports of the early colonists 
were the natural products of the forest. Furs, timber, 
pitch and tar, pot and pearl ashes, with some cattle and 
provisions, constituted the chief articles of trade from 
the Northern provinces in the early part of the eighteenth 
century ; rice and tobacco had even then become impor- 
tant items of exportation from the Southern colonies ; and 
at a later period wheat became the great staple of the 
Middle and Western States, and cotton that of the more 
Southern sections of the country. 

A large portion of the United States still remains un- 










'■:-. 













AGRICULTURE. 43 

cultivated, mostly because it has not yet been occupied. 
Land is still so plentiful in proportion to the population 
and capital, that rent has scarcely begun to have any 
existence, the farmer being in almost every case proprietor 
of the land which he cultivates. 

The science of farming has been so much extended 
and improved of late years, that it is gradually giving to 
the United States a rank as one of the most carefully 
tilled countries in the world. It appears from the returns 
of the last census, that the ratio of the increase of the prin- 
cipal agricultural products of the United States has more 
than kept pace with the increase of the population, and a 
marked improvement has taken place in the more impor- 
tant agricultural operations. 

The spirit of inquiry and enterprise in agriculture was 
never more general or encouraging than at the present 
time. Societies have been established in all the States for 
the purpose of collecting and rendering as useful as pos- 
sible all the information relative to agriculture, and in 
Massachusetts a department of the State Legislature has 
been organized for the superintendence of the agricultural 
interests of the State. 

The Middle States, especially New York, have attained 
a high degree of improvement, consequent upon the efforts 
made to raise the standard of agriculture. 

The Western States are more strictly agricultural than 
any other section, and Chicago and other towns owe their 
existence entirely to the mammoth trade in Indian corn, 
wheat, and other farm products supplied by the surround- 
ing country. 

The Southern States, while their main products are 
cotton, rice, tobacco, and sugar, also produce cereals in 
large quantities. 

The farms in the States and Territories contain in the 



44 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OP AMERICA. 

aggregate 163,261,389 acres improved, and 246,508,244 
acres unimproved lands. The unimproved land consists of 
that which is occupied and necessary to the enjoyment of 
the improved, though not itself reclaimed ; it does not in- 
clude meadow land. The average size of farms is 203 
acres, the greatest average being in California (4466 acres), 
and the smallest in Utah (51 acres). The greatest average 
values of farms are in the District of Columbia, Louisiana, 
and New Jersey ; and the smallest average values in Utah, 
New Mexico, and Arkansas. 

The average value of land per acre in New England 
is $20.2 7c. ; in the Middle States, $28.0 7c. ; in the 
Southern States, $5. 34c. ; in the South- Western States, 
$6.26c. ; in the North- Western States, $11.39c. ; in 
California and the organized Territories, $1.89c; in Texas, 
$1.41c. The proportion of the improved land to the 
whole in the Free States is 14*72 per cent. ; in the Slave 
States, 10*09 per cent. ; in the United States, 7*71 per cent. 
The proportion of occupied land to the whole in the 
Free States is 28*56 per cent. ; in the Slave States, 33*17 
per cent. ; in the United States, 20*02 per cent. The average 
value of occupied land per acre in the Free States is $19 ; 
in the Slave States, $6. 09c. ; in the United States, $11. 14c. 

In general it may be said that the Middle and Western 
States are most productive in wheat, rye, and oats ; the 
Southern and Western in Indian corn ; and the Southern 
in cotton, sugar, tobacco, and rice. Wool and Irish pota- 
toes are raised principally north of lat 34°; tobacco between 
34° and 41° ; barley, apples, and pears, north of 38°; hemp, 
flax, and hops, north of 34° ; cotton between 31° and 36°; 
sugar south of 31°. 

The quantity of wheat grown in 1859 amounted to 
171,183,381 bushels. In many States the quantity grown 
has exceeded the means of ready transportation, or the 



AGRICULTURE. 45 

demands of the market. It is, however, to the extended 
cultivation of spring wheat in the North- Western States, 
that the increase — which has been at the rate of 70 
per cent, in ten years — is due. The greatest wheat-pro- 
ducing State is Illinois ; then come Wisconsin, Indiana, 
Ohio, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, Iowa, and 
Michigan. The prairie States yield the largest crops. 

Maize, cr Indian corn, furnishing at once food for man, 
food for beast, and manure for the land, is cultivated in 
every State and Territory of the Union, and is undoubtedly 
the popular crop, receiving the distinctive name of " corn." 
It is less liable to failure than any other. In 1859, the 
crop was 830,541,707 bushels, showing an increase of 40 
per cent, since 1849. A large quantity is shipped to Great 
Britain, and every year increases the demand. 

Barley, oats, rye, buckwheat, and flax, are grown in every 
part of the United States — principally in New York. Hemp 
is chiefly raised in New York, Kentucky, and Missouri. 
The total product for 1860 being 83,000 tons of dew 
rotted hemp, and about 4000 tons water-rotted. 

Cotton, the great staple of the Union, is chiefly a pro- 
duct of the South. It is the produce of the herbaceous or 
annual cotton plant, and is of two kinds — the Sea Island 
or long staple, and the upland or short staple. The former, 
which is of superior quality, is grown chiefly in the Caro- 
linas and Georgia, on the Atlantic, and in some parts of 
the State of Texas, Cotton was first planted in the United 
States in or about 1787, and was first exported in small 
quantities in 1790. Since then its culture has become 
enormous, and the rapidity with which it has been 
developed is truly wonderful. In the beginning of the 
present century, the annual exportation was less than 
5000 bales, in 1859 it had increased to 5,196,944 bales, of 
400 pounds each. The whole crop is the product of thir- 



46 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

teen States, but is chiefly obtained from eight of them. 
Immense as is the quantity produced, the demand is equal 
to the supply. The civil war has led to a temporary cessa- 
tion of the trade, which, now that peace is restored, will 
doubtless speedily regain its activity. Prior to the produc- 
tion of cotton in such vast quantities in the more Southern 
States, it was extensively cultivated for domestic purposes 
in North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and 
Southern Illinois ; and it is not improbable that its culti- 
vation may be re-established in some of these States, with 
profit to the producer and advantage to the consumer. 
The number of plantations in which upwards of five bales 
were produced was, in the year 1859, 74,031. 

The dairy products of the United States are large. 
Considerable quantities are shipped yearly to Great 
Britain. The quantity of butter produced in the year 
1859-60 was set down as 460,509,854 pounds; and the 
production of cheese reached 105,875,135 pounds. 

Although large quantities of sugar and molasses are 
imported into the United States, the product of cane sugar 
in 1859 was 302,205 hogsheads ; and of molasses 
16,337,080 gallons — Louisiana being the State where the 
great bulk of American sugar is produced. A large 
quantity of sugar is obtained from several species of the 
maple tree, that yielding the richest juice being the rock 
or sugar maple. The manufacture is said to have 
originated in New England in 1752, and extended from 
thence into the North-Eastern States, where the tree prin- 
cipally abounds. It is found in beautiful groves, called 
sugar orchards ; and in the months of February and March, 
when the days grow warm and the nights are frosty, the 
trees are bored with augers about two feet from the ground, 
and from the holes thus made the sap exudes, and is col- 
lected in wooden troughs, and boiled on the spot. The 



AGRICULTUEE. 47 

quantity of maple sugar made in 1859 was 302,205 hogs- 
heads. 

Sorghum, a species of grass, commonly known as 
Indian millet, produces a saccharine juice, which in 185G 
began to attract attention. In 1859, less than four 
years from its introduction, the plant had become a 
most important agricultural staple. It thrives wherever 
Indian corn will grow. It may be cultivated in the same 
manner. When fully grown, it is from 6 to 18 feet high ; 
the stalks of 1 to 2 inches diameter. The stalks yield on 
an average about 50 per cent, of their weight in juice, or, 
to the acre, from 150 to 400 gallons, and about 12 per cent, 
of sugar. Excellent rum is made from the seeds. 

In the production of tobacco, every State and Territory 
has a share, the principal coming from Virginia, Ken- 
tucky, and Maryland, where it has been the staple since 
their first settlement ; and it is also extensively grown in 
Kentucky, Ohio, Missouri, and other States. Besides the 
quantities required for domestic use, large amounts are 
exported. Several of the Northern States are showing a 
considerable increase in the growth of this staple. In 
1859, the total produce was 429,390,771 pounds. There 
are upwards of 15,745 plantations on which 3000 pounds 
or more are raised. 

The hay crop of 1859 was 19,129,128 tons. This 
crop is mainly confined to the Northern States. In the 
Southern States, the weather is so mild as to allow cattle 
to graze during the greater portion of the year, rendering 
a hay harvest less necessary. The estimated value of the 
above crop is upwards of $150,000,000. 

Rice was first cultivated in South Carolina in 1694, 
and four years afterwards, 60 tons were shipped to Eng- 
land. Since that time, it has been so successfully culti- 
vated, that in 1860 it reached 190 millions of pounds. 



48 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

South Carolina and Georgia are the principal producers 
out of the sixteen States in which it is grown. A large 
amount is exported. 

Hops are principally cultivated in New York, though 
every State and Territory, with the exception of Florida, 
New Mexico, and Dacotah, contributed to the crop of 1860, 
which amounted to upwards of 10 millions of pounds. 

Potatoes are raised in every part of the Union, the 
Irish potato principally in the Northern, and the sweet 
potato chiefly in the Southern section. The yield for 1860 
was upwards of 110 millions of bushels of the former, 
and 35 millions of the former. 

The last returns upon the subject of wine making 
show a large increase in an article which promises to be- 
come one of great commercial value. The wine culture 
has increased in a number of States, but more particularly 
in Ohio, California, and Kentucky. These three States 
made nearly one million of the 1,860,008 gallons reported 
in 1860. 

The orchard products of the United States consist prin- 
cipally of apples and pears, of which the value in 1860 was 
nearly 20 millions of dollars, showing an increase in 
ten years of about 12 millions of dollars ; an increase 
owing to the great attention which has been paid to the 
introduction and cultivation of improved varieties of fruit, 
and the processes of preservation by artificial means, which 
now employ a large amount of capital. 

The number of acres devoted to the different crops in 
1860 were— hay and pasturage, 33,000,000 ; Indian corn, 
31,000,000; wheat, 11,000,000; oats, 7,500,000; cotton, 
5,000,000; rye, 1,200,000; peas and beans, 1,000,000; 
Irish potatoes, 1,000,000 ; sweet potatoes, 750,000 ; buck- 
wheat, 600,000 ; tobacco, 400,000 ; sugar, 400,000 ; barley, 
300,000; rice, 175,000; hemp, 110,000; flax, 100,000; 



MANUFACTURES. 49 

orchards, 500,000 ; gardens, 500,000 ; vineyards, 250,000 ; 
miscellaneous, 1,000,000. 

The largest average crop per acre of wheat, was in 
Massachusetts, 16 bushels ; the smallest, in Georgia, 5 
bushels. Of rye, largest, Ohio, 25 bushels ; smallest, Vir- 
ginia, 5 bushels. Of Indian corn, largest, Connecticut, 
40 bushels ; smallest, South Carolina, 11 bushels. Of 
oats, largest, Iowa, 36 bushels ; smallest, North Carolina, 
10 bushels. Of rice, Florida, 18501bs., South Carolina, 
17501bs., Louisiana, 14001bs. Of tobacco, largest, Missouri, 
7751bs. ; of seed cotton, largest, Texas, 7501bs. ; of Irish 
potatoes, largest, Texas, 250 bushels ; smallest, Alabama, 
CO bushels; of sweet potatoes, largest, Georgia, 400 
bushels. 

The value of the live stock and domestic animals forms 
an important item in the statistics of the country. A most 
satisfactory increase in the number and varieties is shown 
by the last returns. The total value of the live stock was, 
in I860, $1,107,490,216. The horses numbered 6,115,458 ; 
asses and mules, 1,129,553 ; working oxen, 2,240,075 ; 
milch cows, 8,728,862 ; other cattle, 14,671,400 ; swine, 
32,555,367. The number of sheep returned in the last 
census of 1860 was 23,317,756, and the amount of wool 
60,511,3431bs. In addition to the number of sheep just 
given, it was reported that about 1,505,810 were not in- 
cluded in the returns, being owned by other than farmers. 
The total increase of sheep in ten years was 1,594,536. 



MANUFACTURES. 

The manufacturing industry of the United States dates 
from a period prior to their existence as an independent 

4 



50 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OP AMERICA. 

nation. Until the English Government forbade the sale 
of their manufactured products abroad, from the fear of its 
competition with her home industries, products of the 
lever, the forge, and the anvil, were among the exports of 
the New England colonies. The United States cannot as 
yet compete with the more fully populated countries of 
Western Europe; but their advance in this respect is 
steady, and has of late years been wonderfully rapid. The 
essential materials required for the development of manu- 
facturing industry are coal and iron, and these are in ex- 
haustless abundance. The unceasing energy that is dis- 
played in every department of industry bids fair to place 
them ere long in the first rank of manufacturing nations. 

Mr. Kennedy, in his preliminary report of the United 
States census of I860, says : — " The returns of manufactures 
exhibit a most gratifying increase, and present at the same 
time an imposing view of the magnitude to which this 
branch of thenational industry has attained within thelast ten 
years. The total value of domestic manufactures (including 
fisheries and the products of the mines) for the year ending- 
June 1, 1860, reached an aggregate value of $1,900,000,000 
(£380,000,000). This result exhibits an increase of more 
than 86 per cent, in ten years. The growth of this 
branch of American labour appears, therefore, to have been 
in much greater ratio than that of the population. Its 
increase has been 123 per cent, greater than that even of 
the white population, by which it was principally pro- 
duced." 

The chief manufacturing sections are the New England, 
or Eastern States, and the Middle States. The most cele- 
brated products are heavy cotton and woollen goods, iron- 
ware, machinery, boots, shoes, and agricultural tools. 
In the extent of the cotton and iron manufactures this 
country surpasses all others except England. Pennsylvania 



MANUFACTURES. 51 

and New York surpass any of the other States in the 
Union in the number of their manufacturing establish- 
ments ; Ohio and Massachusetts come next in order. 

The manufacture of iron is superior to any other in 
amount, and is pursued to a great extent nearly through- 
out the Union. In Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, Mas- 
sachusetts, and New Jersey, it forms one of the most 
valuable and characteristic branches of industry and in 
Pennsylvania nearly one-tenth of the population derive 
their subsistence from it. 

The manufacture of iron was conducted on a large 
scale for many years before the revolution. The necessity 
of iron for so many uses stimulated its manufacture after 
the colonies became independent ; and though it was 
largely imported from Europe, the combination of skill and 
capital, and the known existence of superior ores, caused a 
healthy growth in the production. 

The quantity of pig iron returned by the census table 
of I860 was 884,474 tons of bar, and other rolled iron 
406,298 tons, the aggregate value of which was nearly 
$42,000,000 (£8,500,000). Of this amount, Pennsylvania 
contributed over $34,000,000 (£6,S00,000). 

A large portion of the capital of the United States is 
invested in the manufacture of machinery and implements, 
of which a quantity are exported to foreign countries. The 
agricultural implements manufactured in I860 were of the 
value of over $17,000,000. This branch of industry has 
increased in a most extraordinary manner during the last 
ten years, especially in the Western States. The value of 
implements produced there was $7,955,545 (£1,591,109), 
against barely $2,000,000 (£400,000) in 1859. The States 
of Ohio and Illinois are the largest manufacturers in the 
"West. New England shows an increase of about 65 per 
cent. In the Southern States the manufacture has increased 



52 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

101 per cent., the largest increase being in Virginia, 
Alabama, and Louisiana. The total production of the 
country since 1859 has been increased 160 per cent. ; the 
greatest; increase being manifested in Michigan, Indiana, 
and Wisconsin, which is 1250, 386, and 201 per cent, 
respectively. 

The construction of machinery for the purposes of the 
engineer and manufacturer has become a most important 
branch of industry. Nearly every section of the country, 
particularly the Atlantic slope, possesses a great affluence 
of water-power, to appropriate and adopt which to manu- 
facturing purposes has given a great impetus to the con- 
struction of hydraulic machinery. The demand for rapid 
locomotion, and for the various kinds of machinery used 
in mills, mines, factories, etc., as well as for building and 
engineering, has caused the most rapid growth of this 
branch of industry. Perhaps nothing shows more the 
progress of a country in all operative branches than the 
increase in the statistics of this department. The annual 
product of the machinists' and millwrights' department in 
1850 was valued at about $28,000,000 (£5,600,000) ; in 
1860 this reached upwards of $47,000,000 (£9,400,000)— 
an increase of over $19,000,000 (or nearly £4,000,000) in 
ten years. This is exclusive of sewing machines. The 
Middle States were the largest producers, having made 48 
per cent, of the whole ; but the Southern and Western 
States show the largest increase. New York and Pennsyl- 
vania take the lead, followed by Massachusetts, Ohio, and 
New Jersey. Iowa shows the greatest increase, being 29.11 
per cent. ; Maine shows the smallest, being only 5. 

Besides the machinery and castings included in the 
above, the value of the production of the iron foundries 
must be taken. This in 1860 was $27,970,193 (£5,554,038), 
being an increase on 1850 of 42 per cent. New York and 



OAKUFACTUKES. 53 

Pennsylvania show an increase of 39 and 60 per cent, 
respectively. The extensive stove foundries in the former 
State augmenting most materially the value of its produc- 
tion, which amounted to §8,216,124 (£1,643,224). 

"The sewing machine has been improved and intro- 
duced, in the last ten years, to an extent which has made 
it altogether a revolutionary instrument. It has opened 
avenues to profitable and healthful industry for thousands 
of industrious females, to whom the labours of the needle 
*had become wholly unremunerative and injurious in their 
effects. Like all automatic powers, it has enhanced the 
comforts of every class, by cheapening the process of 
manufacture of numerous articles of prime necessity, with- 
out permanently subtracting from the average means of 
support of any portion of the community. It has added a 
positive increment to the permanent wealth of the country, 
by creating larger and more varied applications of capital 
and skill in the several branches of which it is auxiliary. 
The manufacture of the machine has itself become one of 
considerable magnitude, and has received a remarkable 
impulse since 1850. The returns show an aggregate of 
116,330 machines made in nine States in 1860, the value of 
which was $5,605,305 (£1,121,109). During the year 
1861 sewing machines to the value of over §61,000 were 
exported to foreign countries. It is already employed in a 
great variety of operations, and upon different materials, 
and is rapidly becoming an indispensable and general 
appendage to the household." 

The cotton manufacture was commenced as early as 
1790, although there had been some home manufac- 
ture of cotton goods prior to that time. The progress of 
the manufacture had, however, been impeded by the large 
quantities of English cotton goods imported annually from 
Great Britain, where the invention of the power-loom had 



54 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OP AMERICA. 

cheapened the cost of production. In 1822, the first cotton 
mill was erected at Lowell. 

The States most extensively engaged in the cotton 
manufacture are, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Rhode 
Island, Connecticut, and New York; and this manufacture 
is carried on in all the States of the Union excepting 
seven. It is chiefly the coarser description of fabrics that 
are produced. 

The total value of the cotton goods for 1860 was 
$115,237,926 (£23,047,585), of which, New England con- 
tributed $80,301,535 (£16,060,370), and the Middle 
States $26,272,111 (£5,254,422). In the States of Maine 
and New Jersey, the increase during the last ten years has 
been 152 per cent. 

In 1860, the number of hands employed was 45,315 
males, and 73,605 females ; and the average product of the 
labour of each was $969. The number of spindles re- 
turned was 5,035,798. The average product per spindle 
in the whole Union is $2286, in New England $2030, in 
the Middle States, $3010. 

The quantity of cotton used was 364,036,1231bs. or 
910,090 bales of 4001bs. each. Massachusetts, which 
stands at the head of the cotton-manufacturing States, 
had, in 1860, 200 factories, with 1,739,700 spindles, 
and 44,978 looms; $33,300,000 (£6,660,000) of capital 
invested in the trade ; employed 22,353 female, and 12,635 
male hands, whose labour cost $7,221,156 (£1,444,231). 
In 1860, 915 manufactories were in operation, of these 192 
were in the Southern and Western States. The increase 
in ten years is about 76 per cent. ; however, the dearth, 
high price of cotton, and the general depression of business 
consequent upon the civil war, have since that date dimi- 
nished for a time the amount of production. 

The woollen manufacture was carried on as a branch 



MANUFACTURES. 55 

of home industry almost from the foundation of the 
colonies, but was not carried on in large establishments to 
any considerable extent till after 1810. In 1850, the 
manufacturers of broadcloths learned the art of dyeing 
them with fast colours, and this part of the manufacture 
received a very considerable impulse . The power carpet- 
loom had also been invented, and the manufacturers were 
able to make carpets equal in quality and in dura- 
bility to the English. In 1860, the number of establish- 
ments had been reduced by amalgamation, being 638 less 
than in 1850 ; but the amount of capital invested in the 
business had risen to $35, 520,52 7. Twenty-five out of 
the thirty-one States have woollen manufactories, Massa- 
chusetts again ranking first in order of importance, New 
York taking the second place, and Connecticut the third. 
The largest amount is made in New England, of which 
more than one half comes from Massachusetts, which has 
131 factories of large size. Pennsylvania comes next, and 
though it has more establishments, yet scarcely produces 
half as much. New York ranks third. Kentucky takes 
the lead among the Western States, displacing Ohio, in 
which the woollen trade had decreased since 1850. 

The manufacture of leather was commenced very soon 
after the settlement of the colonies, being one of the class 
of manufactures well adapted to new settlements, and its 
advancement has been steadily increasing to the present 
time. The large tanneries have usually been situated in 
districts where the hemlock and oak abounded, for 
obtaining the bark used in tanning without too much 
expense of transportation. In 1860, the production of 
leather is stated at $63,091,051 (£12,619,210). The 
largest producers are New York, Pennsylvania, and Massa- 
chusetts. Including morocco and patent leather, the aggre- 
gate value in 1860 exceeded $67,000,000 (£13,200,000). 



56 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OP AMEKICA. 

In the manufacture of boots and shoes, a larger number of 
hands are employed than in any other single branch of 
industry* in the United States. The total number of 
establishments was returned as 11,864; the capital invested 
over 824,000,000 (£4,800,000) ; number of hands em- 
ployed, 96,287 male, and 31,140 female ; and the value oi 
the whole manufacture was §89,549,900 (£17,909,980). 
The largest production of any one State was that of 
Massachusetts, $46,440,209 (£9 ; 288,041) ; New York 
ranking next, §10,878,797 (£2,175,759). The largest 
production of a single establishment was one in North 
Brookfield, Massachusetts, and amounted to $750,000 
(£150,000). 

The most important manufacture, flour, has increased 
enormously during the last ten years, the value of 
which increase is estimated to be nearly $90,000,000. 
The value of the total manufacture in 1860 was 
§223,144,369 (£44,628,873) ; of this amount the export 
for the year was §15,448,507 (£3,089,701). The increase 
in the last ten years has been 64 per cent. The largest 
mill in the Union is in Oswego, New York, which in 1860 
produced 300,000 barrels of flour ; two in Richmond, Vir- 
ginia, made 190,000 and 160,000 respectively; and another 
in New York city returned 146,000 barrels. The value of 
the production of each of these three mills ranged from 
§1,000,000 to §1,500,000 (£200,000 to £300,000) an- 
nually. 

The Western States take the lead in this manufacture ; 
the Middle, Southern, New England, and Pacific States 
following in order. The latter show an increase on the 
value of the manufacture in 1850 of 222 per cent. 

The influence of improved machinery is conspicuously 
exhibited in the manufacture of sawed and planed timber, 
in which the United States stand] altogether unrivalled, as 



MANUFACTURES. 57 

well for the extent and perfection of the mechanism em- , 
ployed, as the amount of the product. This reached, in 
I860, the value of $95,912,286 (£19,182,457), an increase 
of 64 per cent, in the last decade ; New York and Penn- 
sylvania contributing the largest share ot this amount. 

In the manufacture of spirituous liquors the Middle 
and Western States have the largest share. The total 
number of distilleries are put down at 1138, besides a 
large number of rectifying establishments. The product 
of the former was over 88,000,000 of gallons, of the value 
of §24,253,176 (£4,850,635). 

Malt liquors employed 969 breweries in 1860, more 
than double as many than in 1850 ; and the total of all 
kinds of beer was 3,235,545 barrels, of the value of 
$17,977,135 (£3,595,427). Among the Eastern States, 
Massachusetts, and among the Western, Ohio, Illinois, 
and Missouri, were the largest producers. 

The making and refining of salt in the United States in 
1850 employed 340 establishments, and the value of their 
production was $2,177,945. The four States of New York, 
Virginia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, which, in the order 
named, are the principal salt-producing States, made, ac- 
cording to the returns of 1860, nearly 12,000,000 bushels, 
the value of which, at 1S| cents per bushel, was £440,000, 
or $2,200,000. Texas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, and 
California, are also salt-producing States. About 60 per 
cent, of the whole was made in New York. 



58 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 



FISHERIES. 

The fisheries of the United States, being encouraged 
by liberal bounties from the Government, have become 
greater than those of any other nation. They are exten- 
sively prosecuted in distant seas, and along the neighbour- 
ing shores of the British provinces, as well as upon its own 
coasts. It is, however, to be regretted that the non-re- 
newal by the American Government of the Reciprocity 
Treaty of 1854, has materially curtailed the area of the 
fishing-grounds. 

The most important fisheries, ranked according to the 
value of their yearly returns, are the whale, cod, mackerel, 
herring, and oyster fisheries. 

The total value of the lake, river, shore, and deep sea 
fisheries, amounted in 1860 to $12,924,092 (£2,584,818). 
This amount includes oysters to the value of $382,170 
(£76,434), and the product of the whale fisheries $7,521,588 
(£1,504,317); of this latter, $6,526,238 (£1,305,247) be- 
longs to Massachusetts. The total value of the product of 
this State was $9,300,442 (£1,860,088), thus contributing 
nearly 72 per cent, of the whole production of the United 
States fisheries, and taking the lead in this most important 
branch of maritime trade. 

Maine holds the second place, returning $1,050,755 
(£210,151) as the value of the cod, mackerel, herring, etc., 
taken by its fishermen. 

Michigan returned the largest value in white fish 
$250,467 (£50,093) ; New Jersey, New York, and Vir- 
ginia, contributed the greatest amount of oysters. 

A decline in the whale fishery has taken place, owing to 
a scarcity of the fish in its former haunts ; a slight decline 
has also taken place in the value of the cod fisheries. 



COMMEKCE. 59 

The returns of salmon fishing are from three States 
only, California, Oregon, and Washington, the total value 
being 651,300 (£10,260). The rivers in the Pacific 
States abound with this fish, which is of the finest quality. 
Pickerel to the amonnt of about §85,000 (£17,000) arc 
yearly taken from the rivers which flow into Lakes Brie, 
Huron, Michigan, and Superior. 

The shad fisheries are most valuable. This fish is prin- 
cipally taken from the rivers falling into the Atlantic, as 
the Connecticut, Hudson, Delaware, and Potomac. North 
Carolina has the largest fishery, and is followed by Florida 
and New Hampshire. The total value of this fish for 1860 
was returned as $321,052 (£64,210). 

The value of sea products, such as fish oil, spermaceti, 
fish dried and pickled, exported in the year 1860, was over 
$4,000,000 (£800,000). 



COMMERCE. 

" The commerce of the United States attained consider- 
able power at an early period. In 1700, the exports of 
New England, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Mary- 
land, and Carolina, amounted to about £395,000, and their 
imports to £344,000. In July 1807, American commerce 
received a blow from which it did not recover for years. 
* The orders in council ' of the British parliament, followed 
as they were by the ' Berlin and Milan decrees ' of Napo- 
leon, and by our own embargo act in 1807, produced 
a terrible stagnation. From that period to 1830, except 
the year 1818, the average of imports did not exceed 
$78,000,000 (£15,600,000), and the exports were of about 
the same amount. From 1831 to 1837 the imports and 



60 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

exports rapidly increased. The revulsion of 1837, and the 
combined results of the bankrupt law, the change in the 
tariff, and the secondary effects of the great financial panic, 
reduced both imports and exports, which touched their 
lowest point in 1842. From that date, the increase was 
gradual at first, but more rapid in the later years, up to 
1860, when the exports were $400,122,296 (£80,024,459), 
and the imports $362,163,941 (£72,432,788). In 1854, a 
treaty was entered into between the United States and 
Great Britain for the reciprocal admission, free of duty, 
into the former, and the provinces of Canada, New Bruns- 
wick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward's Isle, and Newfound- 
land, of certain specified articles, being the chief produc- 
tions of those countries ; the treaty to continue in force 
ten years, and then until twelve months after notice given 
by either party of a desire to abrogate it. All which has 
much augmented the commerce of the provinces, and 
opened greater facilities for bringing Western produce to 
market. 

A vast inland trade is carried on, over an unequalled 
extent of artificial natural lines of communication. The 
domestic commerce of the United States may be divided 
into three branches. 1. That which is carried on coast- 
wise, up the bays and large rivers, and on the great lakes, 
by schooners, sloops, and steamboats. 2. That which is 
carried on chiefly in steamboats, but partly in rude flat- 
bottomed boats, on the affluents of the Mississippi. The 
natural centre of this trade is New Orleans, which, situ- 
ated at the outlet of the valley, is necessarily the great 
entrepot of all the produce destined for exportation, and 
of all the foreign articles required to supply the wants of 
the people of the Western States. 3. The overland trade, 
between the Western and Atlantic States, which consists 
principally of horses, hogs, cattle, and mules, driven every 



COMMERCE. 61 

year to the Atlantic States, to the value of many millions 
of dollars ; but the difficulty of conveyance long prevented 
any other return than money. The many canals and rail- 
ways now constructed, however, transport returned mer- 
chandise, as well as travellers, across the mountains. The 
four maritime States of New England are those most 
devoted to navigation and trade ; Massachusetts, though 
it contains less than one twenty-fifth of the population of 
the United States, owns more than one-fourth of the ship- 
ping tonnage. 

In commercial affairs, the country now undoubtedly 
enjoys great advantages: the extent of the coast, the 
energy of the people, and, above all, the unrestrained 
liberty enjoyed in this, as in all other departments of life 
by the Americans, have tended to such a result. The 
commerce of the United States has obtained a surprising 
magnitude, and is second only to that of Great Britain. 
There is no part of the globe which is not visited by the 
American merchantmen. 

The imports of the United States consist principally of 
manufactured goods, chiefly of the finer kinds, a large 
proportion being supplied by Great Britain ; with sugar, 
molasses, coffee, and other tropical produce, besides tea, 
hides, wines, spirits, dried fruits, and a great variety of 
minor articles, including watches, boohs, prints, etc. 

The exports are principally raw produce, and embrace 
cotton, flour, maize, tobacco, rice, sawn and planed timber 
of every kind, beef, pork, dried fish, whale and other fish- 
oil, tar, pitch, turpentine, horses and cattle skins, furs, and 
bullion (chiefly gold), besides a few manufactured com- 
modities. Of these items, cotton is by far the largest in 
amount, and forms nearly a third part of their total value. 

The various articles of export may be arranged under 
four heads : — 1, produce of agriculture, which constitutes 



62 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

more than three-fourths of the entire value ; 2, the forest 
produce, amounting to about a twentieth part; 3, the 
fisheries, representing about a forty-eighth part of the 
whole ; and, 4; the different manufactures, which make up 
the remaining portion, that is, about a tenth part of the 
total amount. 

The following statement shows, in approximate round 
numbers, the mean annual value for the last ten years prior 
to July, 1860, of the leading exports of domestic produce, 
and of the principal imports of foreign produce for domestic 
consumption, with the corresponding totals of all the ex- 
ports and imports of a like character : — 

DOMESTIC EXPORTS. 

YEARLY VALUE. 

Cotton £124,000,000 

Breadstuff's and provisions 50,000,000 

Manufactures 43,000,000 

Gold and silver (in coin and bullion) 42,000,000 

Tobacco (not including manufactured tobacco) . . . 15,000,000 

Timber, etc 5,000,000 

FOREIGN IMPORTS FOR DOMESTIC CONSUMPTION. 

YEABLY VALUE. 

Woollen goods $28,000,000 

Silk „ 27,000,000 

Cotton „ 22,000,000 

Sugar., , 21,000,000 

Iron and manufactures of iron 20,000,000 

Coffee 19,000,000 

Linen and linen fabrics 10,000,000 

Tea 7,000,000 

Total foreign imports of all kinds, appropriated for 
domestic consumption $268,000,000 

Owing to the bulky nature of most of the exports, an 
immense number of vessels is required for their transpor- 



MINING. 63 

tation; hence the mercantile marine of the United States, 
previous to the late war, was the largest in the world. 

The State of Maine takes the lead in ship-building ; 
New York is second ; Massachusetts third ; Pennsylvania 
fourth ; and Connecticut fifth. 

The number of ships and barques built in the sis years ending 

I860 was 1,259 

Number of brigs 397 

„ schooners 2,803 

„ sloops and canal boats... 2,480 

5 , steamers 1,389 

Total tonnage of the above 2,013,427 

Total tonnage of the United States 

in 1850 3,772,439 

Total tonnage of the United States 

in 1860 7,361,639 

Estimated value of this tonnage $221,592,480 (£44,318,496) 



MINING. 

In the several branches of this department a large 
amount of capital and labour is employed. The develop- 
ment of the many valuable mines — forming, as they do, 
the repository and fountain-head of crude materials for 
immense and varied industry in the metallurgic and 
chemical arts, has become a leading occupation. 

The great metalliferous region is found between the 



G4 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

Missouri River and the Pacific Ocean, embracing a little 
more than half the breadth of the United States. The 
Hon. W. M. Stewart, in a speech recently delivered, thus 
pictures the mining resources of the Pacific region : — 
" When the light of science, invigorated by the inventive 
genius of Americans, shall have spread its rays, it will 
reveal to the world the El Dorado of Columbus and 
his followers. Enough is already known to establish the 
fact that this is a vast mineral region, surpassing in 
richness all other discoveries hitherto made. Here is 
a field for three millions of miners ; here are homes for 
twenty millions of people ; here are resources poured 
into the lap of the industry of the East, augmenting 
and accumulating strength and importance by the ex- 
haustless varieties of the products of the country. The 
Sierra and Rocky Mountains have been traversed and 
partially explored ; a country more extensive in territory 
than all the States east of the Mississippi has been proved 
rich in gold, silver, quicksilver, copper, lead, iron, salt, 
sulphur, saleratus, and nearly every other mineral that can 
contribute to the wealth of civilized man." 

" The gold-bearing region of the United States," says 
Mr. Chase, in his Treasury Report for 1862, " stretches 
through near eighteen degrees of latitude, from British 
Columbia on the north, to Mexico on the south ; and 
through more than twenty degrees of longitude, from the 
eastern declination of the Rocky Mountains, to the Pacific 
Ocean. It includes four States — California, Oregon, 
Nevada, and Colorado ; six Territories — Utah, New 
Mexico, Dacotah, Idaho, Montano, and Arizona ; and forms 
an area of more than a million of square miles ; the whole 
of which, with comparatively unimportant exceptions, is 
the property of the nation." 

The yield of the precious metals in this region alone 



MINING. C5 

will probably be over $100,000,000 a year, increasing' 
with the influx of population for many years to come. 
"While gold has been found in paying quantities all 
along the Rocky chain, its deposits are not confined 
to this locality, but sweep across the country eastward 
some hundreds of miles, to the Big Horn Mountains. 
The gold discoveries there cover a large area of the 
country . 

The silver-fields lately discovered and opened in Colo- 
rado and Nevada, upon the western slope of the Rocky 
Mountains — which are asserted to be the legitimate locali- 
ties for true gold and silver bearing ores — are apparently 
in prominence and value beyond any known in the world, 
and the results that will be realized within the next few 
years, will constitute an epoch in the history of silver 
mining. 

The Hon. J. P. Usher, Secretary of the Interior, says of 
these recent discoveries : " A vast belt of some one or two 
hundred miles in width, and eight or nine hundred in 
length, embracing portions of Idaho, Nevada, and Ari- 
zona, is rich in silver ore ; and it is estimated by per- 
sons familiar with the subject, that, if the mines now 
opened there were supplied' with the proper machinery, 
they would yield §10,000,000 per month. In the same 
region vast beds of salt have also been found, which, 
from its value in the process of separating the silver in 
the ores, has given a fresh impulse to mining. When 
we reflect that the richest veins of ore heretofore dis- 
covered are as yet but slightly developed, whilst new 
discoveries are constantly made, it will be perceived that 
the annual product of the mines in the United States 
must soon reach a magnitude without precedent in the 
history of mining operations." 

The enormous production of the mines of the Pacific 



66 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

coast for the last fourteen years, has indeed been most 
surprising. From 1849 to 1862 the sum of $750,000,000 
(£150,000,000) in coin and bullion, was shipped from the 
United States to foreign countries — chiefly to England, 
nearly all of which has been the product of this coast. 
The progressive development of this vast mineral region 
must soon build up a great empire on the Pacific. The 
weekly receipts of bullion from the mines in Nevada is 
already reckoned by the ton. The Comstock Lode, the 
most valuable mine of silver that has yet been struck, 
almost justifies the supposition that it is limitless in its 
wealth, and " no description of it," says Mr. Greeley, 
" can give any adequate idea of its wonderful wealth of 
silver." The Washoe Valley and the Reese Valley are 
the principal mining districts. 

Ores are now sent from California and Nevada to 
Swansea, in Wales, to be smelted. 25 per cent, more 
silver is extracted from these ores at Swansea than 
would have been extracted in America; a quantity of 
rich silver ore, sent from one of the Nevada districts 
was found to contain a sufficient quantity of other 
valuable metals to defray the whole expenses, including 
carriage from the mines. 

Lead ore is found in Missouri, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, 
Virginia, and New York. The order in which the States are 
mentioned represents the order of their productiveness. The 
value of the total amount in 1860 was $977,281 (£195,456). 
The lead region of Missouri is computed to extend over 
an area of six thousand square miles; the mines which 
have been worked for more than fifty years show no signs 
of exhaustion. The lead mines of Iowa are perhaps the 
most productive in the world, but at present they are not 
worked to their full extent. 

Copper ore to the amount of 14,432 tons was obtained 



MINING. 67 

in the j r ear 1860 ; eight States contributed, Michigan 
taking the lead with 6283 tons ; the total value was 
$3,316,516 (£663,303). In Minnesota there is a consider- 
able quantity of copper in the mineral belt stretching along 
the northern shore of Lake Superior. 

The quicksilver mines of California are an important 
branch of the mining interest, though the gold excitement 
is the cause of their hardly receiving a passing notice. 
They are, however, most profitably and permanently 
worked. It is found on the coast range of mountains, ex- 
tending from the Mendocino County to the Colorado River. 

Deposits of iron ore, affording abundant supplies of 
metal, are found in nearly every State. But owing to the 
cheapness of foreign iron — which is largely imported — they 
are not extensively mined, except in a few States. The 
aggregate yield, however, is greater than in any other 
country except England. 

About 2,500,000 tons of iron ore were mined, in 1860, 
of which 1,706,476 tons were obtained in Pennsylvania. 
Ohio and New York were the next principal contributors : 
the former of 228,794 tons, the latter of 176,375 tons. 
In Missouri, there is an inexhaustible supply of this 
metal, of which upwards of 13,000,000 tons are estimated 
to be above the surface. Iron Mountain, which is 228 
feet high, and covers at its base an area of 1,655,280,000 
cubic feet, is computed to contain about 250,000,000 tons 
of iron ore. Pilot Knob, in the same State, is a solid 
mass of iron, covering an area of 360 acres. 

Of the other metals, nickel and zinc are mined in Penn- 
sylvania alone ; the quantity obtained in 1860 being 2348 
tons, value $28,176 (£5,635), of the one, and 11,800 tons, 
value 372,600 (£14,520), of the other. 

" All reports, all facts," says a recent writer, " go to 
sustain the broadest and fullest meanine* of the state- 



08 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

ment of President Lincoln, that the United States 
hold the treasury of the world ; and to establish beyond 
reasonable doubt, that the countries of and adjacent to the 
Rocky Mountains are freighted with the most precious of 
ores — gold first, next silver, then copper, and also lead, 
iron, and coal ; on the plains at the foot of the mountains, 
coal and iron are already found in abundant quantities, 
and are being mined and put to practical use ; found, 
too, just where they are most needed, to take the place 
of the wood now fast being drained from the mountains, 
and furnish the material for the machinery necessary to 
work the ore, and make available the finer metals." 

Among the non-metallic mineral products of the United 
States, coal is most important ; and the unequalled wealth 
and rapid development of the coal-fields are most striking. 
Anthracite coal is obtained in great abundance from ex- 
tensive deposits between the Blue Ridge and neighbouring 
Alleghanies ; bituminous coal, from vast beds in the 
Mississippi Valley. The whole amount procured in the 
country is exceeded only by that obtained in Great 
Britain. 

The coal-fields in the eastern part of the United States 
are estimated to cover an area of not less than 225,000 
square miles, nearly equal to the whole of the Western 
States north of the Ohio River, and cast of the Mississippi. 
The principal of these, known as the Appalachian coal- 
field, extends along the western border of the Appalachian 
Highlands, from New York to Alabama, covering nearly 
100,000 square miles. Another, more than half as large, 
occupies south-western Indiana and most of Illinois; 
another, of great extent, occurs in Missouri and Iowa; and 
another, of several thousand square miles, in Michigan. 

The product of anthracite coal in the year ending June 1, 
1860, was 9,397,332 tons, contributed— with the exception 



PETROLEUM. 69 

of 1000 tons by Rhode Island — by Pennsylvania alone. 
Bituminous coal was obtained in fourteen States, to the 
amount of 5,775,077 tons, of which Pennsylvania con- 
tributed the largest share, being at the rate of 46*4 per 
cent. ; Ohio, Illinois, Maryland, come next in order. The 
aggregate amount of all the coal mined in the United 
States in the same year was 15,173,409 tons, of the value 
of $19,365,765 (£3,873,153). The value in 1850 was 
§7,173,750 (£1,434,750). 



PETROLEUM. 

The discovery of the oil-springs in Pennsylvania has 
led to the development of one of the most important natu- 
ral resources of the country, as well as a most valuable 
addition to its exports. This oil is called petroleum, or 
rock oil; from petra, a rock, and oleum, oil. 

The presence of petroleum in large quantities is not 
limited to the United States. The ancients seem to have 
discovered springs of flowing bitumen, which is identical 
with modern petroleum. One spring mentioned by Hero- 
dotus as being situated in the Ionian Islands still flows, 
although it must have been in existence more than two 
thousand years. It is also found in Canada, Mexico, 
Northern Italy, on the shores of the Caspian Sea; in 
Prance, Germany, India, and other localities. 

As early as the middle of the last century, this produc- 
tion was brought to the notice of the white population by 



70 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OP AMERICA. 

the Seneca Indians, who found it npon Oil Creek, a branch 
of the Alleghany, where a perennial flow of oil has been 
known to exist for upwards of a century ; and there is no 
doubt but that petroleum formed an article of traffic 
between the Indians and French traders while they held 
the valley of the Mississippi. In 1845, the first important 
spring was struck at Tarentum, thirty-five miles above 
Pittsburg, on the Alleghany. In 1857, operations were 
commenced at Titusvilla, and in 1859 a fountain was 
reached by boring, at the depth of seventy-one feet, which 
yielded 400 gallons daily. 

The springs are found principally in the bituminous 
coal areas of the United States, which extend upwards of 
62,000 square miles, in eight of the Middle, Southern, and 
Western States. In the oil regions of Kentucky, Ohio, 
and West Virginia, the oil is found in the Carboniferous 
group ; in Pennsylvania, in the Devonian. The fact, how- 
ever, that the deposits of petroleum are not confined to any 
particular system of rocks, seems to complicate its origin, 
and make it most difficult of explanation. Several theories 
have been started to account for it; the most, however, 
that is known upon the subject, is, that the oil is of an 
organic nature ; that it is found not only near bituminous 
shales and coal, but also that it issues from all the stratified 
rocks, from volcanic and metamorphic formations, from 
beds of lignite, and, in occasional instances, from a source 
of which nothing can be discovered. It is supposed 
that the processes of producing petroleum are going 
on beneath the level Western prairies, and that the oil 
thus formed penetrates the planes of stratification, and 
is diffused through the various layers of rock, and brought 
by running water to the surface. But the evenness of the 
surface indicates that the layers of the rocks beneath are 
undisturbed. 



PETROLEUM. 71 

The phenomena attending its appearance are nearly 
always the same. In almost all cases its existence is accom- 
panied by the presence of salt springs, and of jets of car- 
buretted hydrogen gas. The fissures of the oil-bearing 
rocks seems filled with this gas, which is always indicative 
of oil. The oil comes to the surface in springs, or spreads 
its prismatic beauty across running streams, and may be 
brought by underground currents of water from great 
distances. 

The oil does not run with certainty, nor can it be 
correctly estimated as to what an oil well will produce, or 
how long it will last. In some cases the oil will run for 
several hours and then stop, and will then commence 
again with greater force than before. Some flow at 
regular intervals of three, four, or twelve hours, others 
flow only at night. Some pour forth immense quantities 
of salt brine alternately with oil, others for hours only 
evolve a dangerous and highly inflammable vapour. The 
wells are affected to a large extent by the external at- 
mosphere, a change of the weather being as distinctly 
indicated by the rise of the oil as by the rise of the mercury 
in a barometer. The correspondent of the Times, writing 
of this fact, observes that " the generally received idea of 
the temperature of the earth increasing in certain ratio 
with the depth, is not supported by the experience of 
petroleum, inasmuch as the oil brought up from the 
greatest depths has a lower temperature than that obtained 
nearer the surface." 

Oil has been discovered in over three hundred localities 
outside of the oil regions of Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, 
and West Virginia. Among other portions of the country 
in which oil indications are found may be mentioned Cali- 
fornia, Kentucky, Missouri, Illinois, Michigan, and Iowa. On 
the Des Moines River a great excitement has lately arisen, 



72 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

and all the bottom land lying adjacent to a stream emptying 
into the Des Moines, called Spring Creek, has been bought 
up by oil speculators. The surface indications are said to 
be plentiful, the character of the country broken, and the 
surrounding bluffs filled with coal. Land which was pre- 
viously held at only thirty dollars an acre, has since sold 
readily at prices varying from one hundred to three hun- 
dred dollars per acre. 

In the valley of Oil Creek, Pennsylvania, there are 
fifteen farms, the area of which is little over 15,000 acres. 
The number of wells on these farms is about 500, of which 
nearly 200 are producing wells, with an average daily yield 
of about 4000 barrels. Before the oil excitement began, 
this property was almost valueless; in fact, through 
the entire valley of Oil Creek, would not average five 
dollars per acre, and large fortunes have been realized by 
the original owners, and still larger ones by those who 
have purchased the land. 

The total exports of petroleum in 1862, 1863, 1864, and 
1865, were as follows : — 

1862... 10,887,701 gallons. 

1863 28,250,721 „ 

1864 31,792,972 „ 

1865 42,273,508 „ 

Of the exports for 1864, 24,000,000 gallons were 
refined, and 8,000,000 crude, representing a money value 
abroad, at the price of two shillings a gallon for refined 
oil, of about £3,250,000 in gold, giving the United States, 
at the current rate of exchange during the past year, a 
purchasing power in European markets amounting to 
§45,000,000 in U.S. currency. 

There were in the United States, in 1865, 1457 oil com- 
panies, with a total capital of $869,594,000 (£172,918,800). 



PETROLEUM. 73 

The present yield is estimated to be at the rate of about 
2-50,000 or 300,000 barrels per week. 

A correspondent, writing from one of the large springs, 
says : — " Gazing at the operations of this well, seeing an 
unvarying stream as large as one's wrist pouring out day 
and night, without cessation, the thing becomes really 
marvellous. Here somebody has punched a hole in the 
ground, thrust in an iron tube with a spout, erected enor- 
mous reservoirs, and straightway up the tube, through the 
spout, and into the tanks, there flow $11,000 every day. 
He does nothing ; he need not stay there ; he may go to 
Europe, or to Halifax, but the work goes on just the same. 
Was there ever a similar case in the production of wealth ? 
Gold-seeking has its charms and its votaries ? But the 
gold-miner must go up into the gulches of the wintry 
mountains, and delve incessantly to be remunerated. 
Every ounce of gold dust comes to him only with labour. 
When he ceases to use the pick, the drill, the crusher, the 
washer, the flow of gold ceases. Can he drill a hole, plant 
a pipe in the rocks, and induce the glittering dust, of its 
own accord, to rush upward and outwards into prepared 
receptacles?" 



CHAPTER III, 



THE PUBLIC LANDS. 

Since the adoption of the United States Constitution, the 
public lands owned by the States have been ceded to the 
General Government, and a separate department has been 
established nnder the Secretary of the Interior, for their 
regulation, and a system enacted by Congress for their 
survey and disposal. 

The whole public domain is surveyed and divided by 
parallel lines into " townships " of six miles square. These 
are again divided by parallel lines exactly one mile apart. 
These last squares are called " sections," and contain 640 
acres, which are again divided into half and quarter sec- 
tions, and also eighths. These lands are offered for sale 
at the several land offices located in the districts to be sold. 
The price is fixed at one dollar and a quarter per acre. 
The purchaser comes in as the assignee of the United 
States, and receives a patent from the President. There 
are some fifty different land offices, and from two to three 
million acres are sold annually. 

The following extracts from the annual reports of 
the Secretary of the Interior, presents some interesting 
facts with regard to the immense extent of these lands still 



THE PUBLIC LANDS. 75 

unoccupied in the Western Territories. The report for 
1864 states as follows : — 

" From the foundation of the Government to the present 
time the management and disposal of the public lands have 
engrossed a large share of the public attention. Of the 
two thousand millions of acres embraced in the territorial 
extent of the United States, one thousand four hundred 
millions belonged to the public domain. 

" By a liberal policy in granting and selling lands, about 
one-third of this vast patrimony has been disposed of, 
leaving about one thousand millions of acres still the pro- 
perty of the Government. About one-fourth of all the laws 
that have been enacted by Congress relate to the public 
lands, and to the settlement of the land claims derived from 
the Governments which formerly had jurisdiction of the 
soil. At some periods of American history, a considerable 
income to the treasury has been derived from sales, and at 
others the cash receipts have declined to a sum but little 
exceeding the cost of administering the land system. 
During the first sixty years of the present century, the 
average income from sales was two and three-quarter mil- 
lions of dollars per year, and the quantity disposed of by 
sales, and for military bounties, was about two hundred 
and five millions of acres. 

" During the last ten years the income from lands was 
less than during the preceding decade. This was occa- 
sioned by the large quantities of land — granted for internal 
improvements and for military and other purposes — which 
have competed in the market with the lands of the United 
States ; and, more recently, by the passage of the Home- 
stead Law, under which large quantities have been entered 
at nominal rates. The annual receipts from ordinary sales 
for four years past have been as follows : — 



76 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OP AMERICA. 

For the year ending June 30, 1861 $884,887 

For the year ending June 30, 1862 125,043 . 

Tor the year ending June 30, 1863 136,077 

For the year ending June 30, 186 1 678,007 

For the year ending June 30, 1865 748,427 " 

The depressing influences of civil war have been felt 
during the last few years, but the results demonstrate a 
revival of the annual demand for the public lands, parti- 
cularly for settlement and cultivation. 

The following is from the report for 1865 : — 
" During the fiscal year ending June 30, 18G5, public 
lands were disposed of as follows: — 

Acres sold for Cash 557,212 

Acres located with Military Warrants 348,660 

Acres located with Agricultural Scrip 460,130 

Acres selected under Agricultural College Grant 808,358 

Acres approved to the States as Swamp Lands . , 571,429 

Acres approved to the States for Kail ways 607,415 

Acres taken under the Homestead Law 1,160,532 

4,513,736 
During the quarter ending September 30, 1S65, 
the aggregate number of acres taken for the 
same purposes was 880,591 

Making during five quarters the total number of 
acres 5,394,327 



" The cash receipts from sales, homestead, and location 
fees, for the same five quarters, ending September 30, 1865, 
were 1,038,400. 

" The cash sales for the year ending June 30, 18G5, 
amounted to $748,427, an excess of $70,420 over the 
sum received from the same source the previous year. 

" During the fiscal year ending June 30, 1865, 4,161,778 



THE PUBLIC LANDS. 77 

acres of public lands were surveyed. The aggregate quan- 
tity of surveyed public lands undisposed of, September, 
1865, was 132,285,035 acres. 

" The act of September 4, 1841, and the supplemental 
act of March 3, 1843, confer upon actual settlers, upon 
certain specified conditions, the right to acquire by pre- 
emption surveyed public lands. Since that time the right 
has been by various acts extended to unsurveyed lands, 
but the period within which the claim must be preferred 
after settlement, differs in the several States and Terri- 
tories, although proof and payment must be made in all 
before the day prescribed by proclamation of the Pre- 
sident for the sale of the body of lands within which the 
pre-emption claimant has settled. In some the claim of 
settlement must be filed within three months after the re- 
turn of the approved plat or survey to the local land offices ; 
in others, within six months thereafter ; in others, within 
three months after the survey has been made in the field ; 
and in some of the newer Territories there is no specific 
provision on this s abject, but all laws of the United 
States, which are not locally inapplicable, are declared to 
be in force. 

" The Homestead Law has been in operation since 
the 1st day of January, 1863. Large bodies of lands 
have been entered under its provisions. Five years' 
continued residence is necessary to the perfection of 
the title of a Homestead settler unless he prefers to 
purchase the land at the minimum price, and obtain 
a patent. It is estimated that from forty to fifty per 
cent, of persons who have so claimed the privilege of 
the Homestead Law will prefer to make payment, and thus 
secure title before the expiration of the period when it 
would otherwise vest. The nominal sum paid by the 
Homestead settler, and the fee which he pays to the local 



78 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

officers, are sufficient to cover the expense incident to the 
survey and the disposal of the land. 

" The Commissioner of the General Land Office has 
held that the United States, as the successor of Mexico, 
has the exclusive and paramount right to all such sites as 
may be indispensable for forts or other public uses, and 
this right will be enforced unless Congress shall otherwise 
order. 

" The organization of a Bureau of Mining was recom- 
mended in the last annual report of this department, and 
the attention of Congress is again invited to the subject. All 
lands denominated mineral, which do not bear the precious 
metals, should be brought into market, and thus placed 
under the guardianship of private owners. In no other 
mode, it is believed, can the great forests of timber — the 
growth of centuries, and of vast value to the nation — be 
effectually preserved from waste. Individual proprietor- 
ship, it is conceded, would stimulate the development of 
coal-fields, petroleum, deposits of iron, lead, and of other 
gross metals and mineral formations. There can, there- 
fore, be no sufficient reason fcr withholding such mineral 
lands from market. Congress has not legislated with a 
view to securing an income from the product of the pre- 
cious metals from the public domain. It is estimated that 
two or three thousand able-bodied men are engaged in such 
mining operations on the public lands without authority of 
law, who pay nothing to the Government for the privilege, 
or for the permanent possession of property worth, in many 
instances, millions to the claimant." 



THE PUBLIC LANDS. 79 

HOW TO SECURE THE PUBLIC LANDS. 

The following circular gives all necessary information 
as to the procedure necessary in purchasing and securing 
the public lands : — 

Department oe the Intekioe, 

Geneeal Land Office, July 19, 1865. 

Numerous questions having arisen as to the mode of proceeding to 
purchase public lands, or acquire title to the same by bounty land 
locations, by pre-emptions or by homestead, this circular is communi- 
cated for the information of all concerned. 

In order to acquire title to public lands the following steps must 
be taken : — 

1. Application must be made to the Eegister of the district land 
office in which the land desired may be situated. 

A list of all the land offices in the United States is furnished by the 
Department, with the seat of the different offices, where it is the duty 
of the Kegister and Eeceiver to be in attendance, and give proper facili- 
ties and information to persons desirous of obtaining lands. 

The minimum price of ordinary public lands is $1 25c. per acre. 
The even or reserved sections falling within railway grants are in- 
creased to double the minimum price, being $2 50c. per acre. 

Lands once offered at public sale, and not afterwards kept out of 
market by reservation, or otherwise, so as to prevent free competition, 
may he entered or located. 

2. By the applicant filing with the Eegister his written application 
describing the tract, with its area ; the Eegister will then certify to the 
Eeceiver, whether the land is vacant, with its price ; and when found 
to be so, the applicant must pay that price per acre, or may locate the 
same with land warrant, and thereafter the Eeceiver will give him a 
" duplicate receipt," which he is required to surrender prior to the 
delivery to him of the patent, which may be had either by application 
for it to the Eegister or to the General Land Office 

3. If the tract has not been offered at public sale it is not liable to 
ordinary private entry, but may be secured by a party legally qualified 
upon his compliance with the requirements of the pre-emption laws of 
4th September, 1841, and 3rd March, 1813; and after such party shall 
have made actual settlement for such a length of time as will show he 
designs it for his permanent home, and is acting in good faith, building 



80 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OP AMEB1CA. 

a house and residing therein, he may proceed to the district land office, 
establish his pre-emption claim according to law by proving his actual 
residence and cultivation, and showing that he is otherwise within the 
purview of these acts. Then he can enter the land at one dollar and a 
quarter, either with cash or with bounty land warrant, unless the pre- 
mises should be two dollars and a half acre lands. In that case the 
whole purchase-money can be paid in cash, or one-half in cash, the 
residue with a bounty land warrant. 

4. But if parties legally qualified desire to obtain title under the 
Homestead Act of 20th May, 1862, they can do so on complying with 
the Department Circular, dated 30th October, 1862. 

5. The law confines Homestead entries to surveyed lands ; and 
although, in certain States and Territories noted in the subjoined list, 
pre- emptors may go on and before survey, yet they can only establish 
their claim after return of survey, but must file their pre-emption 
declaration within three months after receipt of official plat, at the local 
land office where the settlement was made before survey. Where, 
however, it was made after survey, the claimant mast file within three 
months after date of settlement; and where actual residence and 
cultivation have been long enough to show that the claimant has made 
the land his permanent home, he can establish his claim, and pay for 
the same at any time before the date of the public sale of lands within 
the range of which his settlement may fall. 

6. All unoffered surveyed lands not acquired under pre-emption, 
homestead, or otherwise, under express legal sanction, must be offered 
at public sale under the President's proclamation, and struck off to the 
highest bidder, as required by the Act of April 24, 1820. 

J. M. EDMUNDS, 
Commissioner General Land Office. 



SURVEYS OF THE PUBLIC LANDS. 

The following tabular statement shows the number of 
acres of public lands surveyed in the different States 
and Territories up to June 30, 1863, of public lands and 
private land claims during the last fiscal year, and the total 
of the public lands surveyed up to June 30, 1864, and also 
the total area of the public domain remaining unsurveyed. 



THE PUBLIC LANDS. 



81 





Surveyed up 


Surveyed 
within the 


Total Sur- L T otal re- 


States and Territories. 


to June 30th, 
1863. 


fiscal year 
ending Jne 
30, 1864. 


veyed up to 
June 30, 1864. 


surveyed June 
30, 1864. 




Acres. 


Acres. 


Acres. 


Acres. 


Wisconsin 


32,570,590 
35,630,898 


410,933 


32,981,523 
35,630,898 


1,529,837 


Iowa 




Minnesota 


20,404,088 


599,305 


21,003,393 


30,443,648 


Kansas 


13,883,645 
11,174,112 


695,275 


14,578,920 


37,464,600 


Nebraska Territory 


733,405 


11,907,517 


26,729,283 


California 


26,463,404 

147,584 


258,991 


26,722,395 
417,433 


74,937,285 


Nevada Territory 


269,849 


51,767,527 


Oregon 


4,842,061 
2,893,715 


224,369 


5,066,430 


55,892,290 


Washington Territory . . 


137,579 


3,031,294 


41,746,866 


Colorado Territory 


161,064 


431,076 


592,140 


66,287,860 


Utah Territory 


2,425,239 


.... 


2,425,239 


65,659,241 


Airzona Territory 








80,730,240 


New Mexico Territory . . 


2,293,142 




2,293,142 


75,275,498 


Dacotah Territory* .... 


936,422 


495,208 


1,431,630 


152,550,450 


Idaho Territoryf 








58,196,480 


Montana Territory^ 








92,016,640 




153,825,964 


4,255,990 


158,081,954 


921,245,745 



* By the Act of May 26, 1864, the area of Dacotah Territory was 
increased by attaching to it 58,665,600 square acres off the south-east 
corner of the original Territory of Idaho. 

f Eeduced in area. — See Act May 26, 1864. 

X Montana was erected into a separate Territory out of the former 
territory of Idaho, by the Act of May, 1864. 

§ The aggregate area of the whole public domain may be obtained 
by adding to the totals of the above lands surveyed and remaining to 
be surveyed the areas of the following public land States, in which all 
or nearly all the public lands have been surveyed, viz. : Illinois, 
35,462,400 square acres ; Ohio, 25,276,960 square acres ; Mississippi, 
30,179,840 square acres ; Florida, 37,931,520 square acres ; Missouri, 
41,824,000 square acres ; Indiana, 21,637,760 square acres ; Louisiana, 
26,461,440 square acres ; Michigan, 36,128,640 square acres ; Alabama, 
32,462,080 square acres ; Arkansas, 33,406,720 square acres ; Indian 
Territory, 44,154,240 square acres. 

ACRES 

Total area, exclusive of water-courses, etc 1,444,703,273 

Area water surface, lakes and rivers 5,296,727 



Making an aggregate area of the public domain 1,450,000,000 

6 



82 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OP AMERICA. 

The following is a copy of the well-known Act : — 

"AN ACT TO SECURE HOMESTEADS TO ACTUAL SETTLERS 
ON THE PUBLIC DOMAIN. 

"Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled, That any person who 
is the head of a family, or who has arrived at the age of twenty-one 
years, and is a citizen of the United States, or who shall have filed hi3 
declaration of intention to become such, as required by the naturaliza- 
tion laws of the United States, and who has never borne arm3 against 
the United States Government or given aid and comfort to its enemies, 
shall, from and after the first of January, eighteen hundred and sixty- 
three, be entitled to enter one quarter section or a less quantity of 
unappropriated public lands, upon which said person may have filed a 
pre-emption claim, or which may, at the time the application is made, 
be subject to pre-emption at one dollar and twenty-five cents, or less, 
per acre ; or eighty acres, or less, of such unappropriated lands, at two 
dollars and fifty cents per acre, to be located in a body, in conformity 
to the legal subdivisions of the public lands, and after the same shall 
have been surveyed : Provided, That any person owning and residing, 
on land may, under the provisions of this act, enter other land lying 
contiguous to his or her said land, which shall not, with the land so 
already owned and occupied, exceed in the aggregate one hundred and 
3ixty acres. 

" Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the person applying for the 
benefit of this act shall, upon application to the register of the land 
office in which he or she is about to make such entry, make affidavit 
before the said register or receiver that he or she is the head of a family, 
or is twenty-one or more years of age, or shall have performed service 
in the army or navy of the United States, and that he has never borne 
arms against the Government of the United States or given aid and 
comfort to its enemies, and that such application is made for his or her 
exclusive use and benefit, and that said entry is made for the purpose of 
actual settlement and cultivation, and not, either directly or indirectly, 
for the use or benefit of any other person or persons whomsoever ; and 
upon filing the said affidavit with the register or receiver, and on pay- 
ment of ten dollars, he or she shall thereupon be permitted to enter the 
quantity of land specified : Provided, however, That no certificate shall 
be given or patent issued therefore until the expiration of five years 



THE PUBLIC LANDS. 83 

from the date of such entry ; and if, at the expiration of such time, or 
at any time within two years thereafter, the person making such entry 
— or, if he be dead, hi3 widow ; or in case of her death, his heirs or 
devisee ; or in case of a widow making such entry, her heirs or devisee 
in case of her death — shall prove by two credible witnesses that he, 
she, or they have resided upon or cultivated the same for the term of 
five years immediately succeeding the time of filing the affidavit afore- 
said, and shall make affidavit that no part of said land has been 
alienated, and that he has borne true allegiance to the Government of 
the United States ; then, in such case, he, she, or they, if at any time 
a citizen of the United States, shall be entitled to a patent, as in other 
cases provided for by law : And provided, further, That in case of the 
death of both father and mother, leaving an infant child, or children 
under twenty-one years of age, the right and fee shall enure to the 
benefit of said infant child or children ; and the executor, adminis- 
trator, or guardian may, at any time within two years after the death 
of the surviving parent, and in accordance with the laws of the State 
in which such children for the time being have their domicile, sell said 
land for the benefit of said infants, but for no other purpose ; and the 
purchaser shall acquire the absolute title by the purchase, and be en- 
titled to a patent from the United States, on payment of the office fees 
and. sum of money herein specified. 

" See. 3. And be it further enacted, That the register of the land 
office shall note all such applications on the tract books and plats of 
his office, and keep a register of all such entries, and make return 
thereof to the General Land Office, together with the proof upon which 
they have been founded. 

"Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That no lands acquired under 
the provisions of this act shall in any event become liable to the satis- 
faction of any debt or debts contracted prior to the issuing of the patent 
therefore. 

" Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That, if at any time after the 
filing of the affidavit, as required in the second section of this act, and 
before the expiration of the five years aforesaid, it shall be proven, 
after due notice to the settler, to the satisfaction of the register of the 
land office, that the person having filed such affidavit shall have actually 
changed his or her residence, or abandoned the said land for more 
than six months at any time, then and in that event the land so entered 
shall revert to the Government. 



84 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

" Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That no individual shall be 
permitted to acquire title to mors than one quarter section under the 
provisions of this act ; and that the commissioner of the General Land 
Office is hereby required to prepare and issue such rules and regula- 
tions, consistent with this act, as shall be necessary and proper to carry 
its provisions into effect, and that the registers and receivers of the 
several land offices shall be entitled to receive the same compensation 
for any lands entered under the provisions of this act that they are 
now entitled to receive when the same quantity of land is entered with 
money, one-half to be paid by the person making the application at 
the time of so doing, and the other half on the issue of the certificate 
by the person to whom it may be issued ; but this shall not be con- 
strued to enlarge the maximum of compensation now prescribed by law 
for any register or receiver : Provided, That nothing contained in this 
act shall be so construed as to impair or interfere in any manner whatever 
with existing pre-emption rights : And provided, further, That all 
persons who may have filed their applications for a pre-emption right 
prior to the passage of this act, shall be entitled to all privileges of 
this act : Provided, further, That no person who has served, or may 
hereafter serve, for a period of not less than fourteen days in the army 
or navy of the United States, either regular or volunteer, under the laws 
thereof, during the existence of an actual war, domestic or foreign, shall 
be deprived of the benefits of this act on account of not having attained 
the age of twenty-one years. 

" Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That the fifth section of the ac 
entitled, ' An act in addition to an act more effectually to provide for 
the punishment of certain crimes against the United States, and for 
other purposes,' approved the third of March, in the year eighteen 
hundred and fifty-3even, shall extend to all oaths, affirmations, and 
affidavits, required or authorized by this act. 

" Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, That nothing in this act shall 
be so construed as to prevent any person who has availed him or her- 
self of the benefits of the first section of this act from paying the 
minimum price, or the price to which the same may have graduated, 
for the quantity of land so entered at any time before the expiration of 
the five years, and obtaining a patent therefore from the Government, 
as in [other cases provided by law, on making proof of settlement 
and cultivation as provided by existing laws granting pre-emption 
rights. 

" Approved May 20, 1862." 



THE PUBLIC LANDS. 85 

In all the Middle and Western States good cleared 
farms with necessary buildings may be purchased at from 
§20 to $30 (£4 to £10) per acre, and in some instances 
still lower; while uncleared land can be purchased at 
from $3 to $10 per acre, according to quality and situa- 
tion, timber land in most of the States being somewhat 
dearer than prairie. Many of the railway companies, 
notably the Illinois Central and the North Missouri, offer 
land at moderate prices, ranging from $6 to $30 per acre, 
and give credit extending over a period of seven years. 



CHAPTER IY« 



GOVERNMENT. 

The government of the United States is a Federal Republic, 
composed of thirty-seven States, ten Territories, and the 
District of Columbia. The government is based on the 
constitution of 1787. By the constitution, the government 
of the nation is vested in three separate authorities : the 
Executive, the Legislative, and the Judicial.. 



THE EXECUTIVE. 

The executive power is vested in a President, who is 
elected by electors, chosen by the popular vote, the number 
being equal to the total number of senators and representa- 
tives in the National Congress. The President's term of 
office is four years, but he is eligible for re-election. 

The manner of the presidential election is as follows : 
According to an Act of Congress passed in 1845, the 
elections for President and Vice-President are held in all 
the States every fourth year, on the first Tuesday, after 
the first Monday, in November; and on the fourth of 
March following the President elect is inaugurated. The 



EXECUTIVE. 



87 



voting is not direct for the President, but for electors. 
Voting in the United States is by ballot, and all citizens 
are entitled to the franchise. 

According to Clause 2, Section 1, Article 2, of the 
United States Constitution, each State is entitled to the 
same number of electors as it has senators and representa- 
tives in Congress, which is as follows : — 



Alabama 6 

Arkansas 3 

California 3 

Colorado 1 

Connecticut 4 

Delaware 1 

Florida 1 

Georgia 7 

Indiana 11 

Illinois 14 



Iowa 

Kansas 

Kentucky 

Louisiana „.. 

Maine 

Maryland 5 

Massachusetts 10 

Mississippi 5 

Missouri 9 

Total Representatives 

Number of Senators — each 



Michigan 6 

Minnesota 2 

New Hampshire 3 

New Jersey 5 

New York 31 



Nevada 

North Carolina. 

Ohio 

Oresron 



... 1 

... 7 

... 19 

... 1 

Pennsylvania 24 

... 2 

... 4 

... 8 

... 4 



Rhode Island ,. . 
South Carolina, 

Tennessee 

Texas 

Virginia 

Vermont 

West Virginia . 
Wisconsin 



241 

State sending two 74 



Total number of Electors 315 



Each of the different political parties holds a National 
Convention a few months previous to the election, and 



88 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

adopts a " platform," or series of resolutions denning the 
principles of the party, and nominates candidates for Presi- 
dent and Vice-President. 

The various political organizations in each State, nomi- 
nate, from their own party, the number of electors to which 
their State is entitled, and the electoral ticket, which re- 
ceives a plurality of votes, is elected. The result of the 
presidential election is known as soon as the election 
returns are received from all the States, although the 
electors do not meet till the first Wednesday in December, 
nor is the President legally elected until the electoral votes 
are counted by the President of the Senate, on the second 
Wednesday in February. 

According to Article 12 of the Amendments to the 
United States Constitution, the electors meet in their 
respective States, and vote by ballot for President and 
Vice-President, and transmit certificates of the result to 
the President of the Senate at Washington, who opens all 
the certificates in the presence of the Senate and House 
of Representatives, and the votes are then counted. A 
majority of the ivhole number of electors is necessary for a 
choice, and if no candidate has such a majority, the House 
of Representatives is to choose the President from the 
three having the highest vote — each State having but one 
vote, and a majority of all the States being necessary to a 
choice. [See the 12th Amendment, U.S. Constitution.] 

No person is eligible to the office of President or Vice- 
President who is not a native born citizen, of the age of 
thirty-five years, and who has not been a resident of the 
United States for fourteen years. The President is Com- 
mander-in-chief of the army and navy, and of the militia 
when in the service of the Union. With the concurrence 
of two-thirds of the Senate, he has the power to make 
treaties, appoint civil and military officers, levy war, con- 



LEGISLATIVE. 89 

elude peace, and do all that rightly belongs to the executive 
power. He has a veto on all laws passed by Congress, but 
so qualified, that notwithstanding his disapproval, any bill 
becomes a law on its being afterwards confirmed by two- 
thirds of both Houses of Congress. The President has an 
annual salary of §25,000, and the Vice-President $8000. 



THE LEGISLATURE. 

All legislative powers are vested in Congress, which 
consists of a Senate and House of Representatives. 

The House of Representatives is composed of members 
chosen every second year by the people of the several 
States, apportioned according to the population of each. 
The number each State is entitled to is determined by a 
census taken every ten years. In addition to these repre- 
sentatives from States, the House admits a delegate from 
each organized Territory, who has the right to debate on 
subjects in which his Territory is interested, but is not 
entitled to a vote. 

The " Senate" consists of two members from each 
State, elected by the Legislatures thereof respectively for 
six years. One-third of the whole body is renewed bien- 
nially, and if vacancies occur, by resignation or otherwise, 
during the recess of the Legislature of any State, the 
executive of such State makes a temporary appointment 
until the next meeting of the Legislature, which fills such 
vacancy. Senators must be at least thirty years of age, 
must have been citizens of the United States for nine 
years, and be residents of the State by which they are 
chosen. Each Senator has one vote. The Vice-President 
of the United States is, ex officio, President of the Senate, 



90 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

but a President, pro tempore, is elected by and from among 
the Senators, who, in the absence of the Vice-President, 
acts in his stead. 

The administrative business of the nation is conducted 
by several officers, with the title of secretaries, who form 
what is called the " Cabinet." They are appointed by the 
President. Each of the secretaries presides over a sepa- 
rate department, under the authority of the President. 
Their salaries are $8000 per annum. 



THE JUDICIARY. 

The judicial powers of the United States are vested in 
a Supreme Court, and in such other inferior courts as Con- 
gress may from time to time establish. The present judi- 
cial establishment consists of a Supreme Court, Circuit 
Courts, and District Courts. The appointment of all 
judges of the United States is made by the President, by 
and with the advice of the Senate, and the judges hold 
their several offices during good behaviour, and can be 
removed only on impeachment. Their compensation is 
fixed by law, and cannot be diminished during their period 
of office. The " Supreme Court," the highest judicial 
tribunal of the Union, is composed of a chief justice and 
eight associate justices, the attorney-general, a reporter, 
and a clerk. One session is held annually at Washington, 
commencing on the first Monday in December, the first 
day of the regular sessions of Congress. 



POWERS OF NATIONAL AND STATE GOVERNMENTS. 91 



RESPECTIVE POWERS OF NATIONAL AND 
STATE GOVERNMENTS. 

To understand properly the theory and operation of the 
Federal Government, the peculiar relations of the Fede- 
rative System must be considered. It should be remem- 
bered that while there is a National Government, having 
for its objects National and chiefly external affairs, there 
are also separate State Governments, with Executive, Legis- 
lative, and Judicial departments, having for their object 
local and wholly internal affairs. 

By Section 8th, Article 1st of the Constitution, the 
States have delegated to Congress the power to declare 
war, to make peace, to enter into treaties, coin money, 
regulate commerce, and in short all functions characteristic 
of national sovereignty ; and by Section 10th, the exercise of 
these national powers by the States is prohibited. Also by 
Article 10th of the amendments, the powers not delegated 
to Congress are reserved to the Stales or to the people. 
Therefore the powers to enact municipal laws, or laws 
which concern only the States directly and immediately, 
are among the reserved rights of the States and the people, 
and are vested by the people in the State Legislatures. 

Thus the States having reserved these internal powers, 
neither the President nor the National Congress, under the 
Constitution, have any power to interfere with them in 
their internal, local, and domestic affairs. 

On the other hand, the States, having delegated to 
Congress those characteristics which pertain to national 
sovereignty, they have no control over such national and 
external affairs. 



92 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

The separate States are, therefore, sovereign in a muni- 
cipal capacity ; while the General Government is sovereign 
in a national capacity, and is represented and known officially 
as the government of one nation. 

The constitutions of the several States all agree in their 
main features. In all there is the same form, and the same 
principles lie at their foundation. 

The chief executive officer in each State is the Governor. 
The duties of the Governors in the States are analogous 
to those of the President in the United States Government. 
They have the nomination, and, in conjunction with the 
Senate, the appointment of many important officers. Like 
the President, they make recommendations to the Legis- 
lature, and take care that the laws are executed. Like the 
President, they may be impeached and removed for treason, 
bribery, or other high crimes. 

The departments of executive officers under the State 
Governments are also organized in analogy to those of the 
General Government. They have departments of State, 
Treasury, etc. But the departments of war, navy, 
post-office, and mint, do not exist under the State Go- 
vernments, since the States have no power over these 
matters. 

The leading provisions of the State Constitutions are 
also very analogous to those of the National Constitution. 
Indeed, the latter has, in a great measure, been the model 
of all the State Constitutions formed since its adoption. 

Like the General Government, the powers of the State 
Governments are divided into three departments — Legis- 
lative, Executive, and Judicial. The legislative department 
is likewise divided into two branches — the Senate and 
House of Assembly ; the former elected by larger constitu- 
encies, and generally for a longer time, than the latter. 
They are governed by the same rules of procedure as the 



POWERS OP NATIONAL AND STATE GOVERNMENTS. 93 

National Government. These are derived from the rules 
of the British Parliament, except where the peculiar cir- 
cumstances of Republican government render them inad- 
missible. They, like Congress, decide on the qualifications 
of their own members, and determine the rules of their own 
proceedings. 

Every Bill, like the laws of Congress, requires the 
signature of the Governor to become a law, and he also 
has the t power of vetoing it ; when, unless subsequently 
passed by a majority of two-thirds of both Houses, it is 
rejected. 

The chief business of the State Legislatures is per- 
formed by the Committees, who are also constituted in the 
same manner as in the National Congress, being generally 
appointed by the Speaker of the House and the President 
of the Senate. 

There are, however, some minor differences between 
the different State constitutions ; for instance, in respect 
to the right of suffrage ; but in most of the States, the 
qualifications are so low, that the right of suffrage, in 
reality, is universal among all white male citizens above 
twenty-one years of age. In eight of the Northern States 
coloured persons are entitled to a vote. 

Without entering into detail, we will briefly notice 
some of the important powers possessed by the separate 
State Governments. 

First. The enactment of domestic and municipal laws, 
and the enforcement of them by a proper organization of 
judicial courts. These constitute the large mass of objects 
upon which the State Legislatures are occupied. 

Among them are — 

1. Those which relate to corporate and public bodies, 
incorporating railway and stock companies, chartering 
banks and literary and public institutions, taxation, etc. 



94 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

2. Police regulations, and the punishment of crimes, 
except crimes committed against the General Government. 

3. Those which concern private property and rights. 

Second. The power of officering the militia and govern- 
ing them when not called into service by the General 
Government. 

Third. The co-operation in the amendments of the 
Constitution, three-fourths of the States being required 
to assent to every amendment. 

Fourth. The mode of choosing the President of the 
United States, appointing the " electors" in such manner 
as the State Legislature shall direct. 



GOVERNMENT OF THE TERRITORIES. 

In addition to the thirty-seven States, there is a large 
district of land belonging to the United States stretching 
westward, and extending to the Pacific. It embraces 
an area of 1,344,000 square miles, and is divided into 
ten districts, called " Territories." Notwithstanding their 
immense area, they only contained in 1860 a white popu- 
lation of 220,149. They are mostly inhabited by tribes of 
savage Indians, but are rapidly being settled. These 
Territories are under the control of Congress ; but any of 
them may be admitted into the Union as States on the 
same footing as the other States, on attaining the popu- 
lation necessary for one representative in Congress — viz., 
124,000. 

Each Territory is established on the condition that 
Congress may thereafter divide the same, or annex any 



GOVERNMENT OF THE TERRITORIES. 95 

portion of it to another Territory, or to a State. The 
relations sustained by each of them to the General Govern- 
ment are nearly identical. 

The first and second clauses of Section 3rd, Article 
4th, of the Constitution, are the basis upon which Con- 
gress erect and administer the Territorial Governments, 
and subsequently admit them into the Union. Under the 
old confederation, no such provision existed ; and so little 
anticipation was had of the growth and prosperity of those 
wild regions — whose population has since more than trebled 
the original States — that no provision existed for forming 
or admitting them. Since the adoption of the present 
Constitution, however, by the thirteen original States, 
twenty-four new States have been formed, principally out 
of the Territories, and have adopted, assented to, and 
ratified the Constitution, and become integral parts of the 
Union — making thirty- seven States in all — nine Territories 
still remaining. 

The power given by the Constitution to form new States 
is one of the new principles introduced into this system of 
government, and is at once the most novel and most influ- 
ential upon its future destiny of any. Many of the nations 
of antiquity held immense provinces, which constituted a 
part of the State, for the purposes of revenue and armies ; 
but they were never admitted upon terms of equality, and 
their inhabitants were never citizens. The idea of con- 
stituting a government, to be indefinitely developed by 
its own colonization, is wholly new. The principle is 
simply this, that a colony settled upon an adjacent Terri- 
tory, and within the jurisdiction of the United States, 
whether it be composed of citizens of the Union, or emi- 
grants from foreign nations, shall, on attaining a specific 
population, be admitted to equal rights, privileges, and 
powers with the original States. This principle is like- 



96 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMEKICA. 

wise unlimited in respect to the number, distance, or settle- 
ment of the colonies. The consequence is, that the original 
thirteen States are left in a minority as to power in that 
Government which they formed, and of which they were 
the sole possessors. 

The power of Congress over the public Territory is 
exclusive and universal, except so far as its authority is 
restrained by stipulations in the cessions. This is not the 
case, however, with merely national property, such as forts 
and arsenals, where the States have not ceded the juris- 
diction ; but in such cases, the jurisdiction of the State 
continues, subject to the just exercise of the proper 
powers of the National Government. 

In the year 1820, upon the admission of Missouri into 
the Union as a State by an Act of Congress, a question 
was raised whether a clause in the Act restricting the 
admission of slaves into the State was constitutional. 
That question was not directly decided, but it was in- 
directly by the Act passed in 1820, known as the Missouri 
compromise, which declared that, in all the Territory north 
oflat. 36 deg. 30 min., not included within the limits of 
Missouri, slavery and involuntary servitude should for ever 
be prohibited. This Act has since been repealed. 

The Governor, Secretary, United States Attorney, and 
Marshal are appointed for each Territory by the President 
for four years. The Legislative Assembly consists of a 
Council and House of Representatives elected by the 
people. All laws passed by the Legislature, and approved 
by the Governors, must be submitted to the National 
Congress, and, if disapproved, are null and void. The 
Judiciary is vested in a Supreme Court and other Inferior 
Courts, from which there is an appeal to the Supreme 
Court of the United States. 

The Constitution and laws of the United States have 



GOVERNMENT OF THE TERRITORIES. 07 

the same force as in the States. Each Territory sends a 
delegate to the Lower House of the National Congress, 
who is entitled to speak and debate on all matters in 
which his constituents are interested, but is not entitled to 
a vote in the House. The right of suffrage is granted to 
every free white male citizen of the age of twenty-one 
years. 

Two sections (of G iO acres) of land in each township, 
of six miles square, are reserved for common schools. 



CHAPTER ¥♦ 

THE STATES AND TERRITORIES. 

The thirty-seven States are, for convenience of description, 
usually divided into five groups, called respectively, 
Eastern, Middle, Southern, Western, and Pacific. Besides 
these there are nine Territories, which lie between the 
Mississippi River and the Pacific States. 

THE EASTERN, OR NEW ENGLAND STATES. 

Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, 
Rhode Island, Connecticut. 

The New England division of the United States is in 
many respects the most remarkable and characteristic. 
The six States which form it comprise the earliest settled 
and best improved portion of the Union. 

Its coast of great extent is deeply indented with bays 
and a number of excellent harbours. Towards the north 
the shore is diversified by sloping hills and bold promon- 
tories. Situated upon a basis of primitive rocks, its phy- 
sical features are generally of a bold aud rugged cast. The 
principal mountains rise in chains or detached groups, 
increasing towards the north to an almost alpine elevation. 



THE STATES AND TERRITORIES. 99 

The chief group is that of the White Mountains in New- 
Hampshire, so named from its being ten months in the 
year covered with snow. Mount Washington, whose 

" battlements stand clothed in heaven's own hue, 
To swell as freedom's home on man's unbounded view !" 

is the highest peak. 

The face of the country consists principally of a broad 
highland tract, diversified by mountain ranges. Theso 
give a bold and rugged aspect to the country, which seldom 
expands into those wide and fertile plains which enrich a 
large portion of the more Southern States. The soil, 
though to a great extent sterile, is, in places where it is 
well watered, capable of an extensive cultivation. It is 
best adapted for pasturage and grains of a secondary 
quality. The chief river is the Connecticut, which rises 
near the border of Canada, and traverses the finest part 
of the country, amid high but pastoral valleys, the lower 
portion bordered by alluvial plains and fertile meadows. 

The climate is variable, and subject to extremes of 
heat and cold. The winters are long and severe, especially 
in the North, where the snow remains on the ground for 
nearly six months of the year. It is by no means an 
unusual thing for the temperature to fall even to twenty 
degrees below zero. Cold eastern winds, attended with 
thick fogs, prevail on the coast, especially in Maine. The 
climate, however, is less rigorous on the Southern 
borders. 

The New Englanders are, with a few exceptions, de- 
scendants of the English Puritan fathers, who fled from the 
prelatic persecution to which they were subjected in England 
at the beginning of the seventeenth century. Until lately 
they have received but a small accession of foreigners. 



100 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

They have, however, multiplied to such an extent, as not 
only to people their own territory but also to supply a large 
number of settlers for the Western and Southern States, 
and it is computed that nearly one-third of the United 
States population is of New England origin. The term 
Yankees, which in England and other countries is fami- 
liarly applied to all Americans, is, strictly speaking, 
only applicable to the New Englanders. They are highly 
distinguished for their plain-dealing, intelligence, and 
thrift, and their ingenuity and " cuteness " are proverbial. 
Their habits of industry and prudence — which may be 
traced partly to the character of their ancestry — have de- 
veloped the cultivation of a soil naturally rugged and 
somewhat barren ; and though the limited agricultural 
capabilities of this section have compelled a large number 
of its inhabitants to turn their attention to manufactures 
and other resources, yet the soil is well cultivated ; and 
even in the more rugged and mountainous regions a great 
portion has been devoted to the pasturage of live stock. 
Hay and potatoes are the chief crops. Of the cereal 
grains, Indian corn and oats are principally cultivated. 
The most important branch of New England industry, 
however, is its manufactures. Favoured by abundant 
water-power on its streams, thousands of mills have been 
erected, and an endless variety of fabrics are produced ; 
the chief of which are cotton and woollen goods, boots and 
shoes, machinery, and small wares. 

The nearness of the Eastern States to the best fishing 
grounds in the Northern Atlantic, and the facilities afforded 
by their numerous harbours, have led many of the inhabi- 
tants along the sea-board to engage in the fisheries. They 
have almost a monopoly of the whale, cod, and mackerel 
fisheries prosecuted under the flag of the United States ; 
and the chief control, or an ample share, of many others. 



MAINE. 101 

The people are chiefly Protestants ; and, in proportion 
to population, there are more churches in New England 
than in any other part of the country. 

In respect to education this is the foremost section of 
the Union. The system of free public schools established 
here — especially as developed in two or three of the lead- 
ing States — is of the highest excellence, and has served 
as a model in other parts of the country. 

The commerce of New England, both maritime and in- 
land, is extensive. Foreign goods are largely imported, 
and are distributed, with home manufactures, oils, fish, 
etc., to all parts of the Union. In exchange many pro- 
ducts, from the cotton of the South to the bread-stuffs of the 
North-West, are received, as well for exportation as for 
consumption. The superior facilities for the building 
and outfit of vessels enable it to engage extensively in 
the trau sporting of merchandise, and New England has 
now nearly one-third of the shipping and seamen in the 
merchant service of the United States, besides a large force 
engaged in the fisheries. 

Of the entire length of railways in the United States, 
nearly one-eighth is in New England. Navigable canals 
are in various parts, but their use is mostly superseded by 
railways. 



MAINE. 



This State was settled by the English in 1625, being 
four years after the landing of the Puritan "Pilgrims" 
in Massachusetts, to which State Maine belonged till 1820, 
when it was admitted into the Union as a separate State. 
It has an area of 35,000 square miles, and in 1860 ha-* a 



102 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

population of 028,279. State capital, Augusta. The 
surface is varied, being comparatively level in the southern 
portion, for about twenty miles from the coast ; while 
the interior is hilly, and the northern portion rugged 
and mountainous. The most fertile portion is the central 
southern region, between the Penobscot and Kennebec 
rivers. The mountains of the north are bold and impos- 
ing, the Peak of Katahdin having an elevation of 5385 
feet above the level of the sea. The lakes, of which 
Mooshead is the largest, are numerous, and often very 
beautiful. The State is also traversed by numerous rivers, 
and it is estimated that about one-tenth part of the State 
is covered with water. The ccast is the finest in the 
Union in its remarkably bold, rocky character, and in its 
beautiful harbours, bays, and islands. 

The number of islands on the coast is about 400. 
Most of these are small, but many are of considerable size, 
fertile, and inhabited. The climate, though marked by 
extremes, both of heat and cold, is yet everywhere most 
healthful and salubrious, its rigour being much modified 
by the proximity of the ocean. 

The sportsman will find the deer, moose, and wild fowls 
abounding in the dense forests which yet cover a large 
portion of the State, and the finest fish in its lakes and 
streams. These regions may be traversed by the tourist 
through the paths of the " lumbermen," at whose " shan- 
ties " he may comfortably bivouac. Immense pine forests 
cover a large portion of the unoccupied parts of the State. 
These give employment to a number of persons in the 
cutting and sawing of the timber, which is exported in 
large quantities, and is a source of great wealth to the 
State. 

Only those branches of agriculture which are pecu- 
liarly suited to the character of the State are extensively 



MAINE. 103 

prosecuted. The chief products are Indian com, oats, 
potatoes, and hay. The dairy products are very large. 

In the cod-fishery this State is unequalled, and in the 
fisheries for mackerel and other small fish has but a single 
superior. 

In respect to manufactures, the State is behind most 
other sections of New England ; yet, in the total value of 
its manufactured products, including timber, it is sur- 
passed only by Massachusetts. Quicklime is prepared in 
large quantities at Rockland and Thomaston. 

There are more sea-going vessels built here than in any 
other State ; and Maine has a greater tonnage of shipping 
engaged in the coasting- trade than any other State except 
New York. It has, likewise, many vessels employed in 
foreign commerce ; much of the trade of the Canadas — 
especially in winter — being conducted through Portland, 
its chief sea-port. Among the principal exports, besides 
the industrial products already referred to, are granite and 
ice. 

The chief towns are : — 

Pop. in 1860. Characteristics. 

Portland 26,000 Fine harbour; important foreign 

and coastwise commerce; con- 
siderable ship-building. 

Bangor 16,000 Thriving maritime commerce; im- 
mense trade in timber ; Congre- 
gationalist theological seminary. 

Biddeford 9,000 "> ^ QQQ City and town united by continuous 

and Saco 6,0CO) streets; extensive cotton manu- 

factures, machine-building, etc. ; 
small coasting trade. 

Augusta 12,000 State-capital; various manufac- 
tures ; United States Arsenal ; 
lunatic asjlum. 

-Bath 8,000 Extensive ship-building; various 

manufactures ; coasting trade. 



104 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

Pop. in 1860. Characteristics. 

Kockland 7,000 Manufactures of great quantities oi 

lime ; important ship-building ; 
coasting trade. 



NEW HAMPSHIRE. 

The State of New Hampshire was settled by the 
English in 1623, three years after the landing of the 
Puritans in Massachusetts. It acceded to the Union in 
June, 1788, being one of the original thirteen States. It 
has an area of 9280 square miles, is divided into thirteen 
counties, and had a population, in 1860, of 326,175. The 
State capital is Concord. The surface is more rugged and 
mountainous than any other section of New England. 
The State is celebrated for the grandeur and beauty of its 
scenery, and is often called " The Switzerland of America." 
The White Mountains, on whose peaks the snow lies nearly 
all the summer, is a fashionable summer resort, and is yearly 
visited by thousands from every section of the Union, 
the only comparatively level section lies along the coast, 
which is scarcely eighteen miles long, and furnishes only 
one harbour. 

Though interesting to the traveller or tourist, the State 
presents few inducements for settlement ; and many of its 
rural population are emigrating to the more fertile regions 
of the West. 

The soil of the State in general is ill adapted to tillage, 
but is well watered, and furnishes excellent pasturage. 

The agricultural interests have little that is charac- 
teristic. In proportion to the extent of its arable land, 
however, it produces an unusually large sliare of Indian 
corn and potatoes. Iron-ore, found in nearly every county, 



VERMONT. 105 

is profitably mined at Franconia and Lisbon. Granite is 
largely quarried in the south ; and, on account of the 
abundance of this mineral, New Hampshire is called the 
" Granite State." 

The leading branches of New England manufactures 
are extensively pursued in the south-east, where water- 
power is most abundant. In the cotton manufacture this 
State surpasses every other except Massachusetts. The 
direct foreign commerce is small, its exports and imports 
being forwarded chiefly through Boston, Massachusetts. 

The New Hampshire Asylum for the Insane at Concord 
is one of the best establishments in the United States. 
There are others for the blind, and deaf and dumb. 

The chief towns are : — 

Pop. in 1860. Characteristics. 

Manchester 20,000 Fourth city of America in the extent of its 

cotton manufactures ; important manu- 
factures of locomotive engines and other 
machinery, paper, etc. 

Concord 11,000 State capital ; country trade ; carriage and 

machine manufactures ; State prison ; 
State lunatic asylum. 

Nashua 10,000 Extensive manufactures of cotton cloths; 

also considerable manufactures of ma- 
chinery, etc. 

Portsmouth 0,000 Only seaport in the State; excellent har- 
bour ; manufactures of lawns, hosiery, 
and cordage; United States navy-yard 
on an island in the harbour. 



VERMONT. 

This State was settled in 1724 by the English, chiefly 
from Connecticut, under a grant made by the New Hamp- 
shire colony. It acceded to the Union in 1791, being one 



106 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

of the original thirteen States. It has an area of 10,212 
square miles, is divided into thirteen counties, and had a 
population in 1860 of 315,116. State capital, Montpelier. 
The State is mountainous, the Green Mountains being a 
continuation of the Alleghany chain, and celebrated for 
their beauty and rich vegetation. Evergreens of various 
kinds clothe their steeps, and impart to them that verdant 
aspect whence is derived their name, as well as the name 
of the State. There are many points of interest in these 
mountains that have not yet received their due attention 
from tourists, but their claims are now being fully admitted. 
They extend from near New Haven, in Connecticut, north- 
ward through Massachusetts and Vermont, into Canada. 
After the White Mountains of New Hampshire, the " Green 
Hills" rank with the noblest groups west of the Rocky 
Mountains. 

The soil generally is fertile. The western slope 
abounds in fine loam, well suited to grain-growing. 

The State is, perhaps, more exclusively agricultural 
than any other in the Union, and more hay, potatoes, live- 
stock, wool, butter, cheese, and maple-sugar are produced 
in proportion to the population. A large proportion of 
the wheat crop of New England is raised in this section. 
Vermont is also celebrated for its superior breeds of 
horses. 

Iron, copper, and other metals are mined to a limited 
extent in various districts. Marble and slate are extensively 
quarried. Several kinds of variegated marble are found 
here, among which is the celebrated vcrd-antiqiie marble, 
once rare and valuable. 

The annual value of manufactures is less than half as 
great as in any other of the New England States. It has 
a thriving commerce with the neighbouring States, and 
with Canada. 



MASSACHUSETTS. 107 

Chief Towns. Pop. in 1860. Characteristics. 

Burlington 8000 Lake commerce ; inland trade; 

University of Vermont ; beau- 
tiful surrounding scenery. 

Rutland 8000 Important railway centre; ex- 
tensive marble quarries ; great 
water-power ; country trade. 

St. Albans 5000 Lake commerce and inland trade. 



MASSACHUSETTS. 

Massachusetts, the parent State of New England, and 
the chief manufacturing district of the United States, was 
settled in 1620 by English Puritans, who landed at Ply- 
mouth; acceded to the Union in February, 1788; area, 
7800 square miles ; State capital, Boston ; population 
1,231,066. Every part of the State is well watered ; but 
in general the streams are more useful for agricultural 
and manufacturing purposes than as channels of com- 
munication. 

The northern shore of Massachusetts is bold and rocky, 
and the coast everywhere is deeply indented, and presents 
several far projecting peninsulas and headlands, forming 
bays of unusual extent. Hence the appellation " Bay 
State." Massachusetts Bay, which gives its name to the 
State, is about seventy miles in length, and comprises 
Boston Bay and Cape Cod Bay. Boston harbour is one of 
the finest in the world, capacious, safe, easy of access, and 
easily defended ; but in the winter season it is sometimes 
ice-bound. 

The climate of Massachusetts, though similar to that of 
the three States lying north of it, is not so extreme as that 
of either. It is very favourable to health, and a large ratio 



10S DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OP AMERICA. 

of the inhabitants attain to a good old age. On the eastern 
and southern shores the summer season is delightfully tem- 
pered by the breezes from the ocean. 

Agriculture is pursued with much energy and skill. 
Indian corn and orchard fruits arc raised here more abun- 
dantly than in any other section of New England. But 
none of the crops are sufficient for supplying the home 
market. In the value of its manufactures, the State ranks 
first amongst the eastern group. More than half the boots 
and shoes of the United States, and nearly one-third of 
the cotton and woollen goods, besides a vast amount of 
other merchandise, are produced here. More ships are built 
here than in any other State except Maine. The fisheries 
are most extensive, and exceed those of all the rest of the 
Union, the whale fishery alone employing about 12,000 
seamen. In foreign commerce the State ranks third 
among the United States. Its coasting trade is also great, 
and its inland trade proportionate to its maritime. 

Besides manufactured goods, and the products of the 
fisheries, ice and granite are exported to a considerable 
amount. The granite, or sienite, quarried at Quincy and 
Rockport, in the eastern part of the State, is highly cele- 
brated, and has furnished material for many of the finest 
edifices in the country. The first railway in the United 
States was built, from the Quincy quarries, to Neponset 
River, near Boston Bay. 

Massachusetts is not, as far as yet ascertained, rich in 
minerals. Iron is found, however, in various parts of the 
State, and is extensively worked. It appears chiefly in the 
form of bog ore. Sulphuret of iron, or pyrites, occurs in 
the central districts, where it is used for the manufacture 
of copperas; and the plumbago found at Worcester and 
Stockbridge is used in the manufacture of lead pencils and 
crucibles. Lead mines exist in the Connecticut Valley. 



MASSACHUSETTS. 109 

The white clay of Martha's Vineyard furnishes alurn ; and 
anthracite coal is now obtained in the Graywacke district 
to the west of Tannton River. 

The chief cities and towns of Massachusetts are as 
follows : — 

Pop. in Criaracteriaticfl. 

p . { city proper, 178,000 t Frequently styled the c: Athc 

'metropolis, 268,000 J America" — - J for its 

literary culture and especially for the 

iBence of it3 public §du 
etate capital; second e 
cit;.- Orient, unrivalled in 

the extent of it3 coa.-.' 
and far exceeding in the va". 
its foreign imports ei 
city of the D .xcept 

Xew York j yet ranking only fifth 
in the value of its exports to f . 
countries ; more extensive building 
of large sea-going vessels than at any 
other port in the country ; import* 
tant manufactures of machinery, 
piano - fortes, -.- the 

wealthiest metropolis, a 
its population, in i e Dmon; its 
' ng capital amo i 

b iboni one-eleventh that of the 
whole Un 

I-OweD S7.0C0 S< of America in the extent 

of . b - 

tares; nol bi manufac- 

tures of machinery, lumber, powder, 

26,000 B tandbert 

ty in Am 

with one of the larges": 
ext.. | Au- 

burn cem 



110 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

Pop. in 1860. Characteristics. 

Roxbury 25,000 City continuous with. Boston; beau- 
tiful suburban residences ; various 
manufactures. 

Charlestown 25,000 United States navy-yard; State pri- 
son ; Bunker Hill Monument, mark- 
ing the place of the first pitched 
battle of the Revolution ; manufac- 
tures of furniture, etc. 

Worcester 25,000 Important railway centre; various 

thriving manufactures ; numerous 
literary institutions ; State lunatic 
asylum. 

New Bedford 22,000 Principal port of the whale fishery 

—more extensively engaged in this 
pursuit than any other port on the 
globe; wealth of its citizens. 

Salem 22.000 Foreign commerce; importation of 

hides, African goods, etc. ; extensive 
manufactures of leather in the city 
and vicinity ; and the wealth of its 
citizens. 



EHODE ISLAND. Ill 



RHODE ISLAND. 



This State was first settled at Providence in 1630, by 
Roger Williams. To the enlightened and liberal principles 
introduced by Williams into the government of Rhode 
Island, and by Penn and Lord Baltimore into the colonial 
constitutions of Pennsylvania and Maryland, America owes 
in a great degree her present condition of entire freedom of 
conscience, these being indeed the only colonies in which 
religious toleration existed. Rhode Island acceded to the 
Union in May, 1790, being one of the " original " States. 
The people were early and active participants in the war 
of the Revolution. It is the smallest of the States of the 
American confederacy, the entire area not exceeding 1306 
square miles, with an extreme length and breadth, re- 
spectively, of 47 and 37 miles. The population of the 
State in 1860 was 174,620. The State capitals are 
alternately Providence and Newport. 

The surface of Rhode Island resembles that of eastern 
Massachusetts. The country is most pleasantly varied 
with hill and dale, though there are no mountains of any 
great size. Compensation for this is found in the natural 
scenery, amid the numerous small lakes which abound, 
and by the beautiful waters, islands, and shores of Narragan- 
sett Bay. Providence and Newport are among the most 
ancient and most interesting places in the Union, the latter 
being one of the most fashionable of the numerous Ameri- 
can watering- -places. 

The soil of the mainland is, in general, a gravelly loam, 
moderately fertile, but not easy of cultivation. On the 
islands it is of a slaty character, and quite productive. The 
insular portions of Rhode Island are among the best farm- 



112 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

ing districts of New England. They are particularly noted 
for their live-stock, dairy-products, wool, and apples. 

The manufactures of Rhode Island are cotton, iron, 
woollen goods, and leather. The direct foreign commerce, 
once considerable, is now comparatively small. Its imports 
and exports are chiefly through the ports of Massachusetts 
and New York. 

Chief Towns. Pop. in 1860. Characteristics. 

Providence 51,000 Joint capital of the State j ex- 
tensive manufactures of ma- 
chinery, jewellery, etc. ; mari- 
time commerce ; numerous 
banks ; Brown University. 

Smithfield 13,000 Manufactures of cotton and 

woollen goods and lime. 

North Providence 12,000 Manufactures of cotton goods, 

etc. ; seat of the first cotton 
factory built in America ; 
small coasting trade. 

Newport 11,000 Joint capitalof the State ; famous 

summer resort for sea-bathing 
and amusement ; capacious 
and strongly -fortified harbour. 



CONNECTICUT. 

This State was settled by the English Puritan emi- 
grants from Massachusetts in 1633. In 1G31 the Dutch 
had a trading house at Hartford, which soon after fell into 
the hands of the English. It acceded to the present Union, 
January 1788, and is, therefore, one of the original thir- 
teen. States. It has an area of 4750 square miles, and a 
population in 1860 of 460,147. The two capitals are New 
Haven and Hartford. The scenery is delighfully varied by 



CONNECTICUT. 115 

the passage of the Connecticut, the Housatonic, and other 
picturesque rivers ; and of several low hill ranges. Spurs 
of the Green Mountains rise, here and there, in isolated 
groups or points through the western portions of the State. 
Lying between the mountain ranges are valleys of great 
luxuriance and beauty. The lakes among the mountains 
of the north-western corner of the State are very at- 
tractive. 

The leading branches of New England agriculture are 
pursued here with much success. Besides other chief 
crops, rye is raised in abundance, and tobacco is much cul- 
tivated. Mines of iron, copper, silver-bearing lead, cobalt, 
nickel, etc., are worked. The deposits of copper in the 
interior of the State are extensive. Those of cobalt and 
nickel in the town of Chatham were, until recently, the 
only valuable stores of the kind known in the United 
States. Sandstone, granite, and various kinds of marble, 
among which is verd-antique, are largely quarried for 
exportation. 

Connecticut is famed for the variety of its manufactures. 
Besides the leading articles, such as are commonly pro- 
duced in most other parts of New England, clocks, paper, 
cutlery, edge-tools, fire-arms, pins, combs, and other small 
wares, are extensively made. 

In the extent of its fishing interests, Connecticut ranks 
next to Massachusetts. It has an important share in the 
whale and cod fisheries ; besides valuable fisheries for shad, 
etc., chiefly within its own waters. 

The foreign commerce of the State is mainly conducted 
through New York and Boston. Its direct trade with the 
West Indies and British America, however, is important ; 
and its coasting trade with domestic ports quite extensive. 

A noteworthy characteristic of this State is, that not 
only are the several branches of the national industry moro 

8 



114 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

equally distributed, but a greater interest in eacb is mani- 
fested by the people. Most persons have a share in either 
a workshop or a farm, being not nnfrequently farmers at 
one season of the year, and manufacturers at another. It 
has been characteristically called the "land of steady 
habits." 

The following are the chief towns : — 

Pop. in I860. Characteristics. 

New Haven 39,000 Joint capital of the Stale ; extensive 

manufactures ; important coasting- 
trade ; Yale College (one of the oldest 
and best universities in America) ; 
beautiful elms and shrubbery. 

Hartford 29,000 Joint capital of the State; manu- 
factures of machinery, fire-arms, boots, 
shoes, etc. ; inland trade ; Trinity Col- 
lege; deaf and dumb and insane 
asylums. 

Norwich 14,000 Manufactures of cotton and woollen 

goods, railway carriages, etc. 

Bridgeport 13,000 Manufactures of carriages, railway car- 
riages, machinery, leather, etc. ; coast- 
ing trade ; fisheries. 

New London 10,000 Admirable harbour ; extensive whale and 

other fisheries ; important coasting 
trade ; line of steamers for route be- 
tween New York and Boston. 

Waterbury 10,000 Extensive manufactures of pins, but* 

tons, brass and copper ware, etc. 



THE MIDDLE STATES. 115 



THE MIDDLE STATES. 

New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, 
Maryland. 

The portion of the United States comprised in this 
division is of the highest mercantile and commercial im- 
portance. The great lakes and the St. Lawrence are the 
natural outlets of commerce in the north and west, and 
the numerous rivers flowing into the Atlantic, and the 
various canals and railways, convey to the eastward coast 
the productions of the interior. The surface, though often 
mountainous, is less rugged than that of New England. 
The mountains are remarkable for their regularity, their 
parallelism, their abrupt acclivities, the almost complete 
uniformity of their summits, and their moderate elevation ; 
presenting the appearance of long and continuous walls. 
In a few sections, however, where the older crystalline 
rocks prevail, the mountains are of a different aspect. 
Generally the ranges are higher, and are more numerous 
and more indented toward the south. The coast is chiefly 
of tertiary and alluvial formation, and hence is compara- 
tively level and deficient to some extent in navigable inlets. 
A narrow tract of older crystalline rocks, however, extending 
from Connecticut south-westerly, toward the head of Chesa- 
peake Bay, gives bold shores and deep waters in the vici- 
nity of New York city, and a portion on the lower course 
of the Hudson and Delaware rivers. 

The soil, except in the most rugged sections, and upon 
the sandy plains along the coast, is productive. 

The climate is chiefly distinguished for its contrasts. 
Near the sea-board it is of the usual maritime character ; 
in the mountainous regions it is variable and subject to 



116 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

extremes ; but west of the mountains it is comparatively 
uniform. In the south it is mild, and little snow falls, ex- 
cept upon the highlands, but in the far north the winter is 
long and severe. 

A large portion of the Middle States was originally 
colonized by the Dutch, but now the inhabitants are chiefly 
of English ancestry. Society in this division cannot be 
said to possess any peculiarly distinctive aspect, and not 
unfrequently localities may be found in which the inha- 
bitants still retain many of the habits and peculiarities 
of the nationalities from which they have sprung. Owing 
to the varied descent of the people of the Middle 
States, they are wanting in uniformity of character. 
Yet, in general, it may be remarked that they are distin- 
guished for commercial enterprise, and for the readiness 
with which they embark in great undertakings. 

Education is well diffused, and the means of instruction 
for the young are ample. A complete system of free 
public schools is established in each of the States, besides 
numerous well-endowed academies, colleges, and profes- 
sional schools, generally of a high character. The schools 
of medicine, especially, are of excellent repute. 

The extensive markets afforded by the great com- 
mercial cities, and many populous villages, of the Middle 
States, together with the favourableness of the soil and 
climate, have contributed very much to their advancement 
in agriculture. No part of America is more distinguished 
for economical and skilful farming. The chief cultivated 
staples, mentioned in the order of their value, are hay, 
Indian corn, wheat, oats, and potatoes. About one-third 
of the hay and potatoes, and more than half the rye and 
buckwheat, of the United States are raised here. Live- 
stock, butter, cheese, and wool, also, are among the chief 
products. 



THE MIDDLE STATES. 117 

Several of the richest mining districts in the Union 
are included in this section. The most important are 
those of coal and iron, belonging chiefly to Pennsylvania. 
Petroleum, or rock-oil, is obtained in great abundance 
from wells in various regions west of the Alleghanies. 

Manufactures, although employing a smaller share of 
the population than in New England, are extensively pur- 
sued in many localities. The principal are, iron castings, 
machinery, ready-made clothing, leather, flour and 
meal, sale boots and shoes, woollen goods, cotton goods, 
and sawed and planed timber. Rough timber is obtained 
in immense quantities near the sources of the Alleghany, 
Susquekannah, and Delaware rivers, and in northern New 
York. The manufactures of iron merchandise, ready- 
made clothing, and leather, are greater than in all the rest 
of the Union ; while those of other articles above-men- 
tioned are exceedingly large. The Middle States are 
noted, moreover, for their production of spirituous and 
malt liquors, refined sugar, cabinet furniture, books, 
stationery, hats and caps, glass-ware, jewellery, and silver- 
ware ; also for their extensive building of steamers and 
small sailing vessels. 

Of the entire external commerce of the United 
States, about two-thirds is transacted through the 
ports of the Middle States. An immense internal com- 
merce, likewise, is maintained by way of their navigable 
rivers, canals, railways, and the neighbouring lakes. The 
chief exports to foreign markets of the varied products 
which are collected here from all parts of the country, arc 
bread-stuffs, raw cotton, salted and smoked meats, tobacco, 
naval stores, and timber. 



118 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

NEW YORK. 

This State was first settled by the Dutch, at Fort 
Orange, now called Albany; and Manhattan, or New Am- 
sterdam, now New York City, in 1614, seven years after 
the voyage of Hudson up the waters of that river which 
now bears his name. 

In 1664, the colony fell into the possession of the 
English; was recaptured by the Dutch in 1673; and 
finally came again under British rule in 1674, and so con- 
tinued until the period of the Revolution. It acceded to 
the Union in July, 1788. It is appropriately called the 
"Empire State," being the first in the Union in 
population, wealth, and commercial importance, and is 
unsurpassed in soil, climate, and in the variety and beauty 
of natural scenery, as well as in historical associations. 
The area of New York is 46,000 square miles, and it has a 
population of 3,880,735. Every variety of surface, and 
every character of physical aspect, is found within the 
great area of the State ; which, however, for the most part 
is a plateau-like region, agreeably diversified with hills, 
valleys, and plains. In some sections, as in the neighbour- 
hood of the Adirondack and Catskill mountains, and be- 
tween the sources of the Susquehannah, and Alleghany 
rivers, it rises to the height of a true table-land. The soil 
is generally good, and, in most sections, peculiarly favour- 
able to the growth of grasses. The river valleys and' 
lasin of the interior are highly productive. 

In the northern portion of the State, and in the high- 
land regions of the southern border, stock and sheep raising, 
with dairy farming, are the almost exclusive agricultural 
pursuits ; while the lowlands, that form the greater part of 
the surface of the western portion, are best adapted to 
grain growing. Large tracts in the vicinity of New 



NEW YORK. 119 

York city are devoted to market gardens. New York, 
though deficient in coal, abounds in iron, which exists in 
large quantities, especially in the eastern portion of the 
State. Lead is mined in the same region; and zinc, 
copper, platinum, silver, manganese, and bismuth are also 
found in various localities. 

Petroleum is found in a number of places, together 
with jets of carburetted hydrogen, sufficient in some in- 
stances to maintain a constant flame. At Fredonia, this 
natural gas is so abundant, that it is sufficient to light the 
town, and the lighthouse at Portland, on Lake Erie, is 
supplied with it. 

New York presents considerable diversities of climate. 
In the north, the winters are long and severe. Those por- 
tions affected by the winds from the ocean are more even 
in temperature, and suffer less from the frosts incidental to 
the spring and fall of the year. 

In the value of its agricultural products, New York is 
only surpassed by Illinois ; and more than seven-eighths 
of all the hops raised in the United States are from this 
State. It is unrivalled in its total yield of hay, oats, 
maple-sugar, beeswax, and honey, and in the value of its 
live stock, especially milch cows. Tobacco is extensively 
raised in the Chemung Valley, and grapes are successfully 
cultivated in the valley of the Hudson, and most of the lake 
valleys. Maple-sugar is an important product of the north- 
ern and central divisions ; and fruits of all kinds, especially 
apples, pears, peaches, strawberries, are grown extensively 
in the western counties. On the banks of the Hudson 
River, particularly near Piermont, strawberries and rasp- 
berries are most successfully cultivated, the soil appearing 
to possess something peculiarly adapted to that kind of 
fruit. A yield of $400 an acre is not uncommon, and the 
general product is so large in the strawberry season, that 



120 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

a special train leaves Piermont every day for New York, 
with almost as much fruit as a locomotive can draw ; a 
steamboat also leaves every evening, calling at the different 
landings to take on a load of berries. 

The manufacturing interests are extensive, and in many 
sections they surpass those of agriculture or commerce. 
Since the completion of lines of internal communication, 
manufactures have received more attention, and flourish- 
ing establishments are to be found in almost every part. 
Flour and meal, spirituous and malt liquors, ready- 
made clothing, steam machinery, iron- ware, sawed and 
planed timber, and cabinet furniture, are made here in 
greater amount than in any other State. From five to 
eight million bushels of salt are produced annually from 
springs in the vicinity of Syracuse. 

The maritime commerce of New York is immense, ex- 
ceeding that of all the rest of the Union. Its exports of 
raw produce, especially of bread-stuffs, are very ex- 
tensive. 

Long Island, part of the State, is 115 miles in length, 
and, at some points, 20 in breadth ; with the Atlantic on 
the south, and the Long Island Sound on the north. The 
upper part of the island is agreeably diversified with hills, 
though the surface is for the most part monotonously level. 
The coast is charmingly indented with bays ; and beautiful 
fresh-water ponds, fed by springs, are everywhere found 
on terraces of varying elevation. These little lakes, and 
the varied coast-views, give Long Island picturesque land- 
scapes which, if not grand, are certainly of most attractive 
and winning character, and heightened by the rural beauty 
of the numerous quiet little towns and charming summer 
villas. 

The lower shore of the island, which is a network of 
shallow, land-locked waters, extending 70 miles, abounds 



NEW YORK. 121 

with innumerable flocks of aquatic fowls, and is the favourite 
resort of the New York sportsmen. On this island is a vast 
tract of uncultivated land known as "The Barrens." Of 
late years public attention has been turned to its cultiva- 
tion. A large bed of oysters has been discovered in Long 
Island Sound, two or three miles from the shore. The 
oysters are of most excellent quality, most of them of the 
proper age and growth to make them fit for immediate use. 
The chief cities are : — 

Pop. in 1860. Characteristics. 

New ( city proper . . . 806,000 | Chief commercial metropolis of Ame- 
York ' metropolis ... 1,111,000 ' rica, unsurpassed in its trade by any 

cities on the globe, except London 
and Liverpool ; number of its in- 
habitants exceeding that of most of 
the individual States of the Union ; 
extensive manufactures of cloth- 
ing (amounting to about one-fourth 
of all in the United States), of iron 
merchandise and steam machinery, 
rich cabinet furniture, pianofortes, 
etc. ; extensive publishing of books, 
newspapers, and other printed mat- 
ter, and great sugar-refining busi- 
ness ; vast exportation of grain, 
flour, and salted and smoked meats, 
and importation of dress goods, 
metals, sugar, tea, coffee, etc. ; very 
extensive banking business, the 
chartered banking capital amount- 
ing to about one-seventb of all in 
the United States ; numerous lines 
of steamers to Europe, Central 
America, the West Indies, etc ; 
many literary, scientific, and bene- 
volent institutions, one of the most 
noted of the former being the Astor 
Library — the largest in America. 



122 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OP AMERICA. 

Pop. in 1860. Characteristics. 

Brooklyn 267,000 City adjoining and connected by 

steam-ferries with New York ; the 
third in population among the cities 
of the United States ; business of 
the inhabitants chiefly in New 
York ; various manufactures ; nu- 
merous spacious docks and store- 
houses; United States Navy Yard ; 
great number of churches, Brook- 
lyn being often called " The City 
of Churches ;" Greenwood Ceme- 
tery, celebrated for its natural 
beauty and its tasteful and costly 
adornments. 

Buffalo 81,000 Extensive commerce by lake, canal, 

and railway — the receipts and ship- 
ments of grain being greater than 
at any other port in the world ; 
numerous lines of steam-packets to 
the principal lake-ports ; manufac- 
tures of machinery, cars, etc. ; 
Buffalo University. 

Albany 62,000 State capital; large inland commerce ; 

one of the greatest timber-marts in 
America ; manufactures of malt 
liquors, iron merchandise, bricks, 
etc. ; University of Albany, and 
other noted literary and scientific 
institutions ; valuable State cabinet 
of natural history. 

Eochester 4S.C00 Genesee waterfalls; most extensive 

manufacture of flour in the United 
States ; also manufactures of edge- 
tools, weighing-scales, boots and 
shoes, cotton and woollen goods, 
etc. ; Rochester University ; Bap- 
tist theological seminary. 

Troy 39,000 Large inland commerce, and tran- 



NEW JERSEY. 123 

Pop. in 1860. Characteristics. 

shipments of merchandise for- 
warded by canal, river, etc. ; ma- 
nufactures of laundry-goods, rail- 
way iron, stoves, nails, rail-cars, 
coaches, etc. ; Troy University. 

Syracuse 28,000 Thriving commercial centre; prin- 
cipal salt manufactures in the 
United States; also manufactures 
of iron goods, flour, etc. 

Utica 23,000 Inland trade; manufactures of cotton 

woollen goods, steam-engines, rail- 
way cars, etc. ; State lunatic asylum. 



NEW JERSEY. 

This State was first settled at the town of Bergen, by 
the Dutch, soon after their arrival in New York, in 1 614. 
In 1627, a Swedish colony was founded near the shores of 
the Delaware, in the south-western part of the State. An 
amusing account of the quarrels of the Swedes with the 
Dutchmen of New Amsterdam may be found in Diedrick 
Knickerbocker's solemn history of the Amsterdam colonists. 
It acceded to the present Union in December 1787, being 
one of the original thirteen States. In the war of Inde- 
pendence, the famous battles of Trenton, Princeton, and 
Monmouth, at all of which Washington was present and 
victorious, occurred within its limits. Morristown was the 
winter camp of the American army in 1776-77. The area 
of the State is 8320 square miles. The population in 1860 
was 672,085. State capital, Trenton. 

The State presents many natural, attractions to the 
traveller. Her sea-coast abounds in favourite bathing and 
sporting resorts, much visited by the citizens of New York 
and Philadelphia. 



124 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OP AMERICA. 

In the southern and central portions of this State, the 
country is flat and sandy ; in the north are some ranges of 
picturesque hills, interspersed with charming lakes and 
ponds. The Nevisink Hills, rising nearly 400 feet on the 
Atlantic side, are usually the first and last land seen by 
ocean voyagers as they approach and leave New York. 
The soil, though naturally light and sandy, is very 
readily fertilized. The northern portion of the State is 
adapted both to tillage and pasturage, and the alluvial 
valleys are highly productive. Excellent grazing lands 
are found among the hills. The central region is the most 
thoroughly improved portion of the State, and forms a vast 
market-garden for New York city. 

In the southern and central parts, there are extensive 
forests of pine, much of which is converted into charcoal. 
The apples and cider of New Jersey are famous ; and in 
the southern section, peaches of excellent quality grow in 
great abundance. Musk-melons, water-melons, plums, 
apricots, and cherries, are the other fruits. 

All the leading farm products of the Middle States are 
raised here in abundance. Rye is a more common crop 
than in any other part of the United States. In the sec- 
tions having easy access to the great markets, garden 
vegetables and sweet potatoes are among the chief staples. 
The latter are produced more abundantly than elsewhere. 
Several counties also contain thousands of cranberry lands, 
which annually produce abundant crops of that fruit. Of 
all the Middle and Eastern States, none contain so small 
a proportion of uncultivated land as New Jersey. 

The minerals consist of iron ore in large quantities, 
zinc and copper, marble, limestone, slate, and a fine sand, 
used for making glass. The zinc mines are among the 
richest in the United States : extensive beds of marl are 
also found. 



NEW JERSEY. 125 

The climate varies greatly. Towards tlie south, owing 
to the influence of the ocean, it is much milder than in the 
northern portion. Generally, it is remarkably healthy. 

Manufactures are extensive ; the chief being steam- 
engines and other machinery, iron castings and rolled iron, 
flour and meal, and ready-made clothing. The manufac- 
ture of jewellery and silver-ware, glass-ware, and India- 
rubber goods also are noted. 

The direct foreign commerce of New Jersey is small, 
most of its merchandise, exported or imported, passing 
through New York and Philadelphia. Its coasting trade, 
however, is considerable : and its railway and canal trans- 
portation, for the accommodation of the neighbouriu^- 
States, is extensive. 

The chief towns are : — 

Population. Characteristics. 

Newark 72,000... Extensive and varied manufactures, the most 

important being of jewellery, patent leather 
saddlery, and harness, hats, clothing, mal- 
leable iron, carriages, rubber goods, zinc 
paint, etc. 

Jersey City ... 29,000... City adjacent to and communicating by 
steam-ferries with New York ; terminus of 
all the great railways connecting New York 
with the " South" and " West ; " large 
manufactures of railway cars, locomotive 
engines, and other machinery, iron castings, 
etc. ; also noted manufacture of black-lead 
crucibles ; important ship-building ; depot 
of Cunard line of Liverpool steamers, and 
of steamers to Baltimore. 

Paterson 20,000... Passaic water-falls, 72 feet, affording immense 

water-power; extensive manufactures of 
cotton cloth, silk goods, locomotive engines, 
and other machinery ; much visited by 
tourists. 



126 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

Population. Characteristics. 

Trenton 17,000... State capital ; head of steamboat navigation 

on the Delaware River; important railway 
and caual connections ; active trade ; large 
manufactures of iron merchandise, etc. ; 
State prison ; lunatic asylum. 

Camden 14,000... City adjacent to and communicating by steam- 
ferries with Philadelphia; various flourish- 
ing manufactures ; important ship-building. 



PENNSYLVANIA. 

This State was settled at Philadelphia in 1681 by- 
English Quakers, and was chartered February 28th of the 
same year. It was one of the original thirteen States, 
having adopted a State Constitution in 1776. Area, 
47,000 square miles. Population, 2,906,115. State ca- 
pital, Harrisburg. 

Pennsylvania is, in point of population, the second 
State in the Union, and in all respects one of the most 
important and interesting. A very singular fact in her 
history — singular because it has no parallel in the annals 
of any other member of the American Union — is, that 
her Territory was settled without war or bloodshed by- 
William Penn and his associates. The peaceful policy 
inaugurated by him was remarkably successful. Impress- 
ing the savage tribes by acts of justice, firmness, and good 
faith, he secured uninterrupted peace with the Indians till 
the opening of the Revolutionary war. The southern 
boundary of the State is the division between the late 
slave and free States, generally known as "Mason and 
Dixon's line." 

The landscapes of Pennsylvania are extremely beautiful, 
and no State presents a greater variety of surface. Belts 



PENNSYLVANIA. 127 

of mountains extend over a breadth of 200 miles, which 
occasionally attain an elevation of over 2000 feet. Among 
these mountains are numerous fertile valleys. There are 
no lakes, bat the charms of the many picturesque rivers 
make ample amends for the deficiency. 

Pennsylvania is eminently an agricultural State. The 
soil is generally fertile, and most of the valleys contain 
rich alluvia. The richest and most productive regions arc 
those of the great limestone and river valleys. Many of 
the mountains afford valuable pasture grounds, and are 
capable of cultivation to their very summits. There are 
large tracts of excellent land in the bituminous coal regions 
of the western portion of the State ; but in the northern 
portion, the country is more bleak and rugged, and conse- 
quently not so productive. The greatest coal-fields and 
deposits in the United States are found here. A vast 
region of anthracite coal, extending 60 miles, with a 
breadth of 18 miles, and including an area of 1000 square 
miles, is most extensively mined. The product for 18 G5 
was 9,488,396 tons. West of the Alleghanies is a still 
larger tract, embracing an area of 20,000 square miles. 
9,000,000 acres of this area contain an immense bed of 
bituminous coal, the upper seam alone being estimated to 
contain 54,000,000,000 tons. It is estimated that Pennsyl- 
vania contains three times as much coal as Great Britain, 
and more than the whole of Europe. 

In the yield of iron, this State is surpassed only by 
England and France. In almost every part deposits of 
iron ore are found in some form. The production of pig- 
iron for the last six months of 1865 was worth $27,893,500 
(£5,578,900). Copper exists extensively in many places ; 
also zinc, plumbago, and lead. The whole State abounds 
in lime, marble, slate, and building stones. A large quan- 
tity of salt, amounting to over 1,000,000 bushels annually, 



128 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

is obtained by boring through the coal formation of the 
western portion of the State. 

Large reservoirs of petroleum are situated in Pennsyl- 
vania. It is estimated that the value of the oil taken from 
this region in 1865 was from twenty-five to thirty millions, 
of dollars, and the weekly yield reaches very nearly 90,000 
barrels, or about 4,500,000 per annum. 

The coasting trade is extensive; and, though New York 
City (which in some respects doubtless affords commercial 
advantages superior to those of Philadelphia) has absorbed 
a large portion of the maritime commerce, the inland 
commerce of Pennsylvania is immense, being largely in- 
creased by the transit trade to the Y^est. 

The manufactures, owing to the mineral products, and 
the ample water-power afforded by the different rivers, 
have placed the State in an enviable position. Bar and 
rolled iron is made in large quantities ; and, with the 
exception of Massachusetts, Pennsylvania makes a larger 
amount of woollen goods than any other State. 

The chief cities are : — 

Pop. in 1860. Characteristics. 

Philadelphia 563,000... Chief manufacturing city in America, hav- 
ing the largest manufactures of cotton, 
woollen, and silk goods, boots and shoes, 
and leather, of any city on the continent, 
besides numerous other large manufac- 
tures — including the production of a 
large quantity of iron goods, and ex- 
tensive publishing of books, etc. ; great 
inland and maritime commerce; principal 
coal market in America, also great mar- 
ket for domestic cotton goods ; seat of a 
United States navy-yard, the United 
States mint, Eastern (State) Penitentiary, 
Girard College (for orphans — the most 
elegant and costlv collegiate edifice in the 



DELAWARE. 129 

Pop. in 18G0. Characteristics. 

country), Pennsylvania University, Ame- 
rican Academy of Natural Sciences — 
having the largest museum of natural 
history in America — ar.d of many bene- 
volent institutions. 

Tittsburg 90,000... Third manufacturing emporium in the 

United States, and chief seat of the iron 
manufactures ; extensive building of 
steamboats, and smaller river and canal 
craft; large manufactures of glass, cotton 
goods, soap and candles, flour, malt li- 
quors, lumber, etc. ; important commerce 
by river, canal, and railway ; chief mar- 
ket in the United States for bituminous 
coal ; Western (State) Penitentiary. 

Alleghany City... 29,000... City adjoining Pittsburg, and identified 
with it in business and social interests. 

Eeading 23,000... Inland trade; manufactures of cotton 

goods, rifles, combs, etc. 

Lancaster 18,000. . . Flourishing country trade ; various manu- 
factures; Franklin and Marshall College. 

Harrisburg 13,000... State capital; important railway centre; 

active inland trade ; large iron works, 
and various other manufactories ; State 
lunatic asylum. 



DELAWARE 

Was settled at Wilmington early in 1638, by Swedes 
and Finns. In 1655 it fell into the possession of the 
Dutch, and in 1664 passed nnder British rule. The colony- 
was granted to William Penn in 1682, and continued 
under the government of Pennsylvania until the adoption 
of a Constitution, September 20, 1776 ; a new one was 

9 



130 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

formed June 12, 1792. It was one of the original thirteen 
States. Area, 2120 square miles. Population, 112,216. It 
is a grain and fruit-growing State, with some extensive 
manufactories. Next to Rhode Island, it is the smallest 
State in the Union, the greatest length and breadth being, 
respectively, only 96 and 37 miles. The landscape of the 
northern portion is agreeably varied with modest hills and 
pleasant vales. In the central and southern portions the 
country is level, ending in marsh and swamp lands. The 
whole State, except a small tract in the north, belongs to 
the Atlantic Plain. The belt of high land, which forms 
the watershed cf the State, abounds in swamps. The 
shores of Delaware Bay are destitute of harbours. The 
soil in the north is good ; but, toward the south, is sandy, 
and less productive. Deposits of shellmarl in some 
sections, are of great value for fertilizing purposes. It 
abounds with forests of hard and soft woods. The trade 
in blackberries, gathered in this State, is so great as to 
form an important item of railway traffic. Considerable 
attention is now being given to the long-neglected, though 
fertile, lands of the State ; they are rapidly increasing 
in value, some having doubled, and even trebled, during 
the last few years, and emigrants from the more northern 
States are rapidly setting upon them. This State is ex- 
tremely healthy ; the climate, being mild and uniform, is 
especially adapted to persons afflicted with pulmonary 
disease. 

In the northern part of the State grazing receives 
much attention, and excellent butter is produced. Peaches 
of the finest quality are raised in abundance. Manu- 
factories are extensively pursued ; the most important are 
flour, cotton goods, iron castings, and machinery. 

The maritime commerce of the State is confined chiefly 
to the coasting-trade, the exchange for foreign goods being 



MARYLAND. 131 

effected almost solely through the great shipping ports of 
the neighbouring States. 
The chief city is : — 

Population. Characteristics. 

Wilmington 22,000 -. Large manufactures, that of gunpowder 

being noted throughout the United 
States ; important coasting trade ; St. 
Mary's College, and other educational 
institutions. 



MARYLAND. 

Maryland was settled, in 1631', at St. Mary's. It was 
one of the original thirteen States, and formed a Constitu- 
tion, August 14th, 1776. Area, 11,124 square miles. 
Population, 687,049. Maryland is the most southern of 
the group distinguished as the Middle States, and is some- 
times classed with the southern group. 

A portion of the State is covered by the waters of the 
Chesapeake Bay. The country upon the eastern and 
western shores of the hay is level and sandy. The long 
narrow strip which extends westward is crossed by several 
ridges of the Alleghanies, which, with their intervening 
valleys, afford charming landscapes. The hill-region of 
Maryland abounds in minerals. The coal deposits, though 
not great in extent, are extremely productive. In the 
vicinity of Cumberland are extensive mines of coal and 
iron. The Cumberland coal is semi-bituminous, and is in 
demand for the use of steam-vessels. Copper is obtained 
in the hilly country cast of the Blue Ridge. 

Besides the culture of the grains, fruits, vegetables, 
and other products of the Northern States, Maryland grows 



132 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

large quantities of tobacco, and ranks in the production of 
this staple as third in the Union. It is cultivated chiefly 
in the level country, between Chesapeake Bay and Po- 
tomac. 

The principal manufactures are flour and meal, machi- 
nery, and other iron merchandise, cotton goods, and 
clothing. 

Maryland ranks among the chief commercial States of 
the Union. Much of the surplus produce of Ohio, Ken- 
tucky, Tennessee, and Virginia, finds a market through 
Baltimore, its principal shipping-port ; and a considerable 
share of the foreign goods consumed in these and more 
Southern States, are received through the same emporium. 
The amount of transportation from the West over the 
Baltimore and Ohio Railway is probably greater than by 
any other railway in the United States. 

Chief Towns. Population. Characteristics. 

Baltimore 212,000 State capital ; one of the chief commer- 
cial emporiums of the Union ; famous 
market for flour, grain, tobacco, coal, 
and ojster3 ; extensive and varied 
manufactures ; elegant monuments 
(the most imposing being Washington 
and Battle monuments), in reference 
to which it is often called the " Monu- 
mental City;" collegiate institutions j 
State penitentiary. 

Cumberland 8000 Principal depot of a large coal and iron 

mining district ; important railway 
centre ; western terminus of the Che- 
sapeake and Ohio Canal ; large inland 
trade ; various manufactures. 

Frederick City 8000 Centre of a rich agricultural and mineral 

region ; various manufactures ; flour- 
ishing educational institutions. 



DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 13. 



DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 

This District was originally 10 miles square, or 100 
square miles. It was ceded to the general government by 
the States of Virginia and Maryland as the seat of Govern- 
ment of the United States. In 1816, the portion on the 
Virginia side of the Potomac was re-ceded back to that 
State. The present area is about 60 square miles. Popu- 
lation, 75,080. This district, unlike the States of the 
Union, is under the direct jurisdiction of Congress, having 
only a limited authority in the regulation of its own 
internal affairs. It was named Columbia in honour of 
Columbus, and with the same reference, the term 
Columbia is sometimes used to designate the United 
States. The entire District is identical with the county 
of Washington. 

The surface is undulating, with hills sufficiently high to 
command extensive views, and give variety to the scene. 
The soil is light, and moderately fertile. The climate 
moist and warm, especially in the lowlands. 

The District only contains two cities, which are — 

Pop. in 1880. Characteristics. 

"Washington . . . 61,400... Capital of the United States; distinguished 
for its elegant public buildings ; Washing- 
ton monument; principal United States 
navy-yard ; Columbian college ; American 
geographers often compute longitude from 
Washington. 

Georgetown ... 12,000... Head of navigation on the Potomac; literary 
and polite society ; manufacture of flour ; 
line of packets. 



134 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OP AMERICA. 



THE SOUTHERN STATES. 

Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Caro- 
lina, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, 
and Texas. 

The extensive alluvial plain which borders the Atlantic 
Ocean and Gulf of Mexico occupies nearly one-half the 
surface of the Southern States. The coasts of this region 
are indented with numerous inlets and bays, and lined 
with a large number of islands and reefs, which render 
navigation dangerous. 

The soil of the lowlands near the Atlantic coast, and 
along the banks of the rivers, is rich in decomposed 
vegetable matter, and is highly fruitful, but along the 
Gulf of Mexico it is generally sterile. The adjacent 
uplands reaching thence to the mountains are generally of 
moderate productiveness, and many of the valleys contain 
rich alluvia. In the great valley of the Appalachians, 
which is formed chiefly upon limestones and sandstones, 
the soils are mostly of a superior quality. The high plains 
that slope toward the Alleghanies, underlaid almost 
throughout with coal-bearing strata, contain some of the 
best farming districts in the United States. 

The inhabitants of the Southern States are almost 
wholly devoted to agricultural pursuits. Some manu- 
factories, however exist, though principally confined to the 
northern portion. Throughout this region extensive pine 
forests yield pitch, tar, and turpentine in abundance. 

The commerce of these States consists chiefly in the 
export of cotton, and other great agricultural staples. 
During the decade preceding the census of 1860, the cotton 
shipped to foreign markets was more than two-fifths, in 



THE SOUTHEKN STATES. 135 

value, of the entire domestic exports of the United States, 
amounting for the year 1860 to $191,000,000. 

The Southerners are distinguished for their ardent tem- 
perament and their jealousy in the maintenance of indi- 
vidual rights. They are chivalrous and courteous. Accus- 
tomed to the control of a servile population, they are 
prone to command. In general they are frank, social, 
and noted for their hospitality ; and the better classes are 
polished and refined in their manners. 

The sparseness of the white population in most parts 
of the South is unfavourable to the support of free public 
schools. Hence, although many are established in every 
State, they are less numerously attended, and generally less 
prosperous, than in other sections of the Union. In facili- 
ties for education of a high order, however, the Southern 
States are not inferior to any portion of the Union. 
Schools and academies, amply endowed and largely at- 
tended, are numerous, more especially in the fertile cotton- 
growing regions. Many of the colleges and universities 
of the South are unsurpassed. Among the most noted 
institutions of this character may be mentioned Virginia 
University, South Carolina College, Emory College in 
Georgia, Lebanon University in Tennessee, Centenary Col- 
lege in Louisiana, and the University of Louisiana at New 
Orleans. 

Some few Indians still remain in the Southern States, 
but the great bulk of the tribes have retired west of the 
Mississippi. 



13G DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OP AMERICA. 

VIRGINIA. 

The Stato of Virginia was first settled at James- 
town in 1607, by the English. It was one of the original 
thirteen States, ratifying and framing a State constitution, 
July 5, 1776, which was amended Jan. 15, 1830. Area, 
61,352 square miles. Population, 1,596,318. State capital, 
Richmond. 

Virginia may be divided into four sections — 1. The coast 
section, extending from the seaboard to the " Ridge." 2. 
The Piedmont section, reaching from the former to the 
base of the Blue Ridge, from whence its name the " foot 
of the mountain." 3. The valley section, between the 
same mountains and the Alleghanies Proper ; and, 4. The 
trans-Alleghany section, now the State of West Virginia. 
The scenery of Virginia is remarkable for its bold and 
picturesque character. It is also celebrated for its mineral 
springs, many of which are the favourite resorts of invalids. 
The estuaries and bays of the Chesapeake afford superior 
commercial facilities. 

The soil is exceedingly diversified in its character, being 
sandy upon the coasts, but highly fertile on the banks of 
the rivers. It amply repays cultivation, especially in the 
highlands, and on the plains west of the Alleghany moun- 
tains. The Shenandoah Valley is the richest agricultural 
portion of the State ; the river of the same name 
passes through it, and affords extensive water-power 
for manufacturing purposes. It was also the scene of 
some of the most important and thrilling events of the 
late war. 

The climate is varied in its character. The winters are 
mild. The summers are liable to be visited by long periods 
of drought. Virginia is the foremost State in the Union 
in the cultivation of tobacco, the greater part of which is 



VIRGINIA. 137 

grown in the Piedmont section. Immense grain crops are 
also produced, and flax is also an important product of 
the highlands. 

The coal and iron deposits, although more extensive, 
are less worked than those of Pennsylvania. Bituminous 
coal, moreover, is found in the southern part of the Great 
Valley. Petroleum is procured from numerous wells west 
of the mountains. Gold, lead, and copper ore, are mined 
in the Piedmont country. Lead, plumbago, porcelain clay, 
marble, and soapstone, are also found in various localities. 
Virginia stands at the head of the Southern States in 
the total value of its manufactures. Flour and meal, cured 
tobacco, machinery, and other iron merchandise, sawed and 
planed timber, and cotton and woollen goods are the prin- 
cipal manufactured products. 

The oyster fisheries of the State are important, largo 
supplies of oysters being transplanted from the shores 
of Chesapeake Bay to the coasts of the Middle and Eastern 
States. 

The maritime commerce is confined to a coasting trade, 
Norfolk being the only port possessed of extensive foreign 
commerce. 

The chief cities of Virginia are : — ■ 

Fop. in 1860. Characteristics. 

Richmond 38,000 State capital; important inland 

and maritime commerce ; 
largest manufactures of to- 
bacco in the United States, 
also extensive manufactures of 
iron goods, flour, etc. ; flou- 
rishing literary institutions ; 
State penitentiary. 

Norfolk 15,611 ) 25 00Q City and adjacent town con- 

and Portsmouth. 9,502 / ' *' nected by steam-ferries, and 

baviDg a magnificent harbour ; 



138 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OP AMERICA. 

Pop. in 1SG0. Characteristics. 

one of the principal commer- 
cial ports of the Southern 
States ; extensive shipment of 
oysters, garden vegetables, 
poultry, and other farm pro- 
duce ; important navy yard 
located at Gosport. 

Petersburg 18,000. Extensive trade in tobacco and 

flour; maritime commerce; 
numerous flourishing manu- 
factures. 

Wheel- ( city proper 14,0001 Important railway centre; rich 

ing ( the metropolis... 17,000) "* coal-mines in the hills adjoin- 
ing the city, whence it derives 
remarkably cheap supplies of 
fuel, and thus enjoys superior 
facilities for steam manufac- 
tures ; numerous flour-mills ; 
production of iron goods, 
glass, silk, etc. ; river com- 
merce and inland trade ; great 
wire suspension bridge, nearly 
a fifth of a mile long (1010 
feet), across the Ohio River. 

Staunton 14,000 Chief town in the Valley of Vir- 
ginia, and market of a rich 
grain-growing region ; thriving 
manufactures ; asylums for 
the insane and for the deaf, 
dumb, and blind. 



WEST VIRGINIA. 
This new State, detached from the old State of Vir- 
ginia by popular will, was admitted into the Union by Act 
of Congress, approved December 31, 1862, " upon the con- 
dition that certain changes should be duly made in the 



NORTH CAROLINA. 139 

proposed constitution for that State," which changes being 
approved by the popular vote, the President of the United 
States, by proclamation, dated the 20th April, 1863, in 
pursuance of the Act of Congress aforesaid, declared and 
proclaimed that the said Act should take effect and be in 
force on the 20th day of June, 1863. 

The new State comprises forty-eight counties, lying 
west of the Alleghany mountains ; having an estimated 
area of 24,000 square miles, and a population, according to 
the census of 1860, of 350,599. 

Nearly the whole of the State is underlaid with exten- 
sive coal deposits, among the most noted of which may be 
mentioned the "Falling Rock Cannel Coal Estate," on 
Elk River, owned by J. B. Weir, Esq., of New York City. 
Tli's is known as one of the most interesting and valuable 
mineral deposits in the United States. In various localities 
also are found extensive deposits of gypsum and iron ore, 
and in some parts rock salt. The amount of salt made 
from the waters of brine springs in the valleys of the Great 
and Little Kanawha Rivers and their tributaries, is more 
than in any other State except New York. It is also rich 
in petroleum, and has a large amount of fertile and 
arable lands lying on the east banks of the Ohio River, 
and in the valleys of the Alleghany mountains. 



NORTH CAROLINA. 

This State was settled in 1650, by the English, acceded 
to the Union November 21st, 1789. Area, 50,700 square 
miles. Population, 992,622, State capital, Raleigh. 

The State is almost wholly destitute of picturesque 



110 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

scenery, though there are here and there many points of 
interest and even of beauty. 

Of all the Atlantic seaboard, the coast of North Caro- 
lina is the most perilous to navigators. The well-known 
Capes Hatteras, Look Out, and Fear, are especially 
dreaded. While the innumerable bays, shoals, and islands 
are thus cautiously avoided by the passing mariners, they 
are eagerly sought by the fisherman and the sportsman. 
Immense quantities of shad and herring, and other fish, are 
taken here, and the estuaries of the rivers and the bays are 
among the favourite resorts of wild fowl of every species. 

North Carolina is divided into four sections : the 
marshy plains bordering the coast, and extending 60 or 
80 miles inland ; the pine barrens, of about 40 miles in 
breadth ; and the hilly country, extending to the foot of 
the Blue Ridge, and the mountainous region beyond, the 
most elevated and rugged expanse east of the Mississippi. 
Many of the summits of the mountains rise to a height of 
G000 feet, while the loftiest reaches 6700 feet. The extra- 
Ordinary height of this region gives to the rivers of the 
east a rapid slope to the Atlantic plain. Hence they afford 
great water-power. The extensive level region, however, 
bordering on the coast, is very marshy. On the whole, 
the soil of the valleys and of the coast regions is pro- 
ductive. The pine barrens, as their n?„me indicates, are 
sterile, though immense quantities of turpentine are ob- 
tained from the heavy pine thickets, which also yield large 
supplies of timber. 

North Carolina is rich in minerals ; gold, copper, iron, 
and coal being the principal. Till the discovery of gold in 
California, this State yielded the largest amount of gold. 
The copper lands of the State, says Professor Jackson, are 
unparalleled in richness. Coal, both anthracite and bitumi- 
nous, and iron ore, exist throughout the mountain districts. 



NORTH CAROLINA. 141 

Limestone and marl are abundant ; and silver, lead, salt, and 
gypsum have been found. 

The climate in the low regions is unhealthy ; in the 
middle and central parts it is more temperate and healthy. 

The State is distinguished for the variety of its agri- 
cultural products, each of its chief physical sections being 
adapted to a peculiar class of crops. The characteristic 
staples of the lowlands are sweet potatoes, cotton, and rice ; 
of the hilly country, tobacco ; of the highlands, grazing 
products, and the hardier cereals. Indian corn is exten- 
sively cultivated in all parts, particularly in the hilly coun- 
try ; yet sweet potatoes and tobacco are the crops for 
which this State is most noted. Apples, pears, peaches, 
cherries, grapes, and strawberries nourish. 

The manufacture of prepared naval stores is very exten- 
sive, perhaps more so than in any part of the world. Flour 
and meal also form important articles of produce, and there 
are now extensive iron works established. 

Its maritime commerce is confined chiefly to the coast- 
ing trade, naval stores being the only export of any im- 
portance. 

The principal towns are : — 

Pop. in I860. Characteristics. 

Wilmington 9,500 Important maritime and inland com- 
merce ; extensive manufactures of spi- 
rits of turpentine, sawed and planed 
lumber, etc. 

Newbern 5,500 Thriving commerce; active trade in naval 

stores, grain, and lumber. 

Fayetteville 5,500 Head of steam navigation on Cape Fear 

River ; important trade and large ex- 
portation of naval stores ; various ma- 
nufactures ; United States Arsenal. 

Raleigh 5,000? ...State capital and seat of a flourishing 

trade ; elegant State house ; State lunatic 



142 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

Pop. in 1860. Characteristics. 

asylum ; North Carolina Institution for 
the Deaf and Dumb. 

Charlotte ? . . . Centre of the gold mining region of North 

Carolina; seat of a branch of the 
United States mint ; important trade in 
cotton and bread-stuffs; manufacture of 
cotton and woollen goods. 



SOUTH CAROLINA. 

South Carolina was first settled at Port Royal, in 
1670, by the English, and continued part of North Caro- 
lina until they were separated in 1729. It was one of the 
original thirteen States. It framed a State Constitution 
March 26th, 1776. Area, 34,000 square miles. Population, 
703,708. State capital, Charleston. 

Upon its settlement, in 1670, John Locke, the famous 
philosopher, framed a constitution forthe young colony, after 
the pattern of that of Plato's Model Republic. Later (1690) 
the population received a considerable accession from the 
influx of French Huguenots, driven from their own land by 
the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. 

The coast region for 100 miles from the ocean is 
covered with forests of pitch pine, intersected with swampy 
tracts, and permeated with sluggish streams. In this 
respect, it resembles the whole southern coast region. 
Beyond this, and parallel to it, is a belt of territory, called 
the " Middle Country," consisting of low sandhills, resem- 
bling the waves of an agitated sea. This tract occasionally 
presents an oasis of verdure, or a plantation of maize, but 
on the whole offers little attraction to the agriculturalist. 
Farther in the interior, the surface exhibits a beautiful 



SOUTH CAROLINA. 143 

alternation of hill and dale interspersed with extensive 
forest, and watered by pleasant streams. 

The southern part of the coast is skirted by a range 
of islands, separated from the mainland by narrow chan- 
nels, which afford an inland steamboat navigation from 
Charleston to Savannah. These islands, like the neighbour- 
ing country, are low and flat, but are covered with forests 
of Live oak, pine, and palmettoes, and they yield the black 
seed or sea island cotton. Before the cultivation of cotton 
was commenced, many of them were the haunts of alliga- 
tors, and the thick woods and rank weeds rendered them 
impenetrable to man. At present they are under cultiva- 
tion, and well inhabited, and as the voyager glides by their 
shores, he is enchanted by the prospect of their lively 
verdure, interspersed by thick clumps of palmettoes and 
flowering groves of orange-trees. 

The mineral resources of South Carolina are by no 
means insignificant. The primitive region of the western 
part of the State belongs to the auriferous belt of the 
Atlantic Slope, and for a number of years past the produc- 
tion of gold has been quite encouraging ; in some instances 
the metal is found in large nuggets, but the largest quan- 
tities have been obtained from washings. Iron is also 
abundant in this region, and in quality the ore is not sur- 
passed. Coal is not found within the State, and the rocks 
which include the coal formation between the clay-slate 
and the new red sandstone are entirely wanting. 

The soil of the hilly country, being derived, to a consi- 
derable extent, from limestone and clay- slate, is generally 
productive ; that of the lowland valleys and swampy 
tracts is exceedingly fertile. The " middle country" and 
pine lands, although sterile by nature, contain beds of marl 
and other fertilizing earths, which amply suffice for their 
redemption. 



144 



DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMLRICA. 



South Carolina, like North Carolina, is distinguished 
for the variety of its crops. The chief staples, mentioned 
in the order of their importance, are cotton, Indian corn, 
and rice ; the latter is cultivated principally in the marshy 
lowlands, which are flooded or drained, according to the 
requirements of the crop. Nearly two- thirds of the rice 
produced in the United States is grown here. The long 
staple cotton is extensively cultivated upon the sea islands. 
Considerable machinery is built here. The amount of its 
exports to foreign countries is large, but foreign imports 
compared with the former, are extremely small. The 
coastwise and inland commerce is large. 

The chief towns and cities are : — 

Top. in 1860. Characteristics. 

Charleston 41,000. . . Second of the Atlantic ports of the Southern 

States, ranking next in commercial im- 
portance to Baltimore ; principal rice 
market, and third cotton market in the 
Union ; Charleston College ; South Caro- 
lina Medical College. 

Columbia 8,000... State capital ; head of steamboat navigation 

on the Congaree River; flourishing inland 
trade ; South Carolina College and other 
important literary institutions; State mi- 
litary college ; State lunatic asylum. 

Georgetown ... 2,500... Foreign and coastwise commerce; various 
manufactures. 

Hamburg 2,000... Highly important cotton market, adjacent 

to and connected with Augusta, Georgia, 
by a bridge across the Savannah River. 



GEORGIA. 145 



GEORGIA. 



Georgia was settled the latest of the original thir- 
teen States of the Union. She derived her name with her 
charter from George II., June 9, 1732. Her first colony- 
was planted by General Oglethorp, on the spot where the 
city of Savannah now stands, in 1773. 

Acceded to the Union, January 2, 1788. Area, 58,000 
square miles. Population in 1860, 1,057,286. Capital, 
Milled geville. The State possesses unrivalled sources of 
prosperity and wealth ; and is distinguished by a spirit of 
activity, enterprise, and progress which markedly distin- 
guishes it from the other Southern States ; hence it is 
called the Empire State of the South. 

The sea-coast, extending only about 80 miles, is 
very similar in character to that of the Carolinas, being 
lined with fertile islands, cut off from the mainland by 
narrow lagoons or sounds. The famous sea-island cotton 
is grown here ; and wild fowl are abundant in all varieties. 
Upon the main, rice plantations flourish, with all the semi- 
tropical fruits of the ocean districts of South Carolina. 
The chief agricultural staples are cotton, Indian corn, 
and sweet potatoes. The latter are raised here more 
abundantly than in any other State. Rice is extensively 
cultivated in the lowlands. 

The gold mines of Georgia, in the hilly country near 
the Blue Ridge, are the richest east of the Mississippi 
Valley. These mines have yielded considerable supplies 
for coinage, a branch mint being located at Dahlonega. 

Flour and meal, cotton goods, and sawed and planed 
timber are manufactured extensively. The cotton nianu- 

10 



146 



DESCEIPTIVE HANDBOOK OP AMERICA. 



factures are more than double the production of any other 
of the Southern States. 

An important coastwise and foreign commerce is carried 
on, although the direct importations from foreign countries 
are small. Rice is among the chief exports. 

The wealth of the State has been largely increased 
during the last ten years by the opening of extensive lines 
of railway. 

The principal towns of Georgia are as follows : — 



Pop. in 1860. Characteristics. 

Savannah... 22,000... Third in importance of the Atlantic ports of 
the Southern States ; extensive shipments of 
cotton, rice, and timber. 

Augusta 12,000... Head of steamboat navigation on the Savannah 

Elver ; commercial centre of a fertile cotton 
region ; fine flour-mills, cotton factories, and 
machine shops ; Georgia Medical College. 

Columbus... 10,000... Head of navigation on the Chattahoochee 
Eiver; extensive trade in cotton manufac- 
tures ; manufactures of cotton and woollen 
goods, iron castings, machinery, etc. 

Atlanta 10,000... Important railway centre; great provision 

mart ; annual State fairs ; large iron works ; 
Atlanta Medical College. 

Macon 8,000... Head of steamboat navigation on the Ocmulgee 

Eiver ; cotton trade ; manufactures of iron 
castings, machinery, and cotton goods ; Wes- 
leyan Female College. 



FLORIDA. 147 

FLORIDA. 

Florida, the most southerly of the Atlantic States, con- 
sists of a long narrow strip on the northern shore of the 
Gulf of Mexico ; and is popularly known as the Peninsular 
State. It was settled at St. Augustine, in 1565, by 
Spaniards ; and was formed from part of the Territory 
ceded by Spain to the United States by treaty of February 
22, 1819. An Act to authorize the President to establish a 
temporary government was passed March 3, 1819 ; articles 
of cession of East Florida were framed July 10, and of 
"West Florida July 1 7, 1821, and it was then taken posses- 
sion of by General Jackson as Governor. An Act for the 
establishment of a Territorial Government was passed 
March 30, 1822 ; and by Act of March 3, 1823, East and 
West Florida were constituted one Territory. After seve- 
ral ineffectual attempts to organize it into two Territories, 
or into a State and Territory, an Act for its admission 
into the Union was passed March 3, 1845. Area, 59,268 
square miles. Population, 140,425. State capital, Talla- 
hasse. 

The southern portion of Florida is an extensive marsh, 
and until the construction of the Fernandina railway, there 
was no overland passage from one shore to the other, dur- 
ing the rainy season, between June and October. 

Florida has a sea-coast of more than 1000 miles in 
length, but so much of it is rendered inaccessible by 
soundings, that it has few good harbours. In some places 
there are but six or seven feet of water six miles from 
shore. In the interior of Florida there is a chain of lakes, 
nearly twenty miles in length, of which the extreme 
southern link is Lake Okechobee ; many of these waters 
are extremely picturesque in their own unique beauty 
of wild and rank tropical vegetation. 



148 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

The State has been but little settled except in the 
north. The soil is generally sandy, mixed in some 
places with clay. The climate partakes largely of that per- 
taining to the torrid zone, to which it approaches within a 
degree and a half. 

The agricultural staples, in general, are such as are 
naturally suited to a tropical climate. Sea-island cotton 
grows even in the middle of the peninsula ; and the pro- 
duct of this staple is more abundant than in any other 
State. Numerous tropical fruits, including lemons, guavas, 
bananas, and pine- apples, flourish here, especially in the 
south. Herds of cattle, requiring no care from their 
owners, are pastured throughout the year upon the grassy 
savannas. The fisheries of shad, etc., along the coast, are 
valuable. Turtles are taken in large numbers upon the quays. 

The maritime commerce is considerable. Among the 
exports are large supplies of live-oak timber (much valued 
for ship-building), and of sponges, which grow upon the 
coral reefs. 

The principal towns of Florida are : — 

Pop. in 18G0. Characteristics. 

Pensacola 5,000 . . . nourishing maritim e commerce ; one of the 

best harbours on the gulf; strong fortifica- 
tions ; United States navy yard. 

Key West 3,000... United States naval and military station j capa- 
cious and strongly fortified harbour ; calling 
port for California steamers ; extensive busi- 
ness in recovering shipwrecked property ; 
large manufactures of salt ; sponge gathering ; 
streets shaded by cocoa-nut palms ; delightful 
climate. 

Appalachicola... 2, 500... Chief commercial port of the State. 

St Augustine.... 5,000... Oldest European town in North America. 



LOUISIANA. 149 



LOUISIANA. 



Louisiana was settled at Ibberville, in 1699, and was 
finally purchased from France by the United States in 1803, 
for $11,500,000, and the further payment of certain claims 
of American citizens against the Government of that coun- 
try. It was made into two Territories by Act of Congress 
March 26th, 1801; one called the Territory of Orleans, 
the other the District of Louisiana, afterwards changed to 
Missouri. Congress, March 2nd, 1806, authorized the 
inhabitants of Orleans Territory to form a State Constitu- 
tion and Government when their population should amount 
to 60,000. A Constitution was adopted January 22nd, 
1812 ; and the State admitted into the Union April 8th of 
the same year, under the name of Louisiana. Its area is 
41,346 square miles. Population, 708,002. State capital, 
Baton Rouge. 

In no part of the State is a greater elevation at- 
tained than 200 feet above the level of the Gulf of Mexico, 
and much of the southern region is so low that it becomes 
flooded at high water, and marshes extend from the coast 
far into the interior. Low prairie lands exist in the cen- 
tral parts of the State, and in the extreme north-west is a 
marshy tract of 50 miles in length and 6 in breadth, full 
of small lakes, made by the interfacings of the arms of 
Red River. It is estimated that an area of between 8000 
and 9000 square miles, lying respectively upon the Mis- 
sissippi and Red Rivers, is subject to inundations. 

About three-fifths of the area of the State is alluvial 
and diluvial ; the rest is occupied by the tertiary formation. 
and contains coal, and iron, ochre, salt, gypsum, and marl. 
Large quartz crystals have been found, and quantities of 
jasper, agates, cornelians, sardonyx, onyx, feldspar, crystal- 



150 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

lized gypsum, alumina, chalcedony, lava, meteoric stones, 
and fossils have been found among the freestone hills. 

The soil, except of the pine-lands and portions of the 
prairies, is highly productive. The principal plantations 
are in the bottom-lands adjoining the Red and Mississippi 
rivers. The inundations which occasionally occur through 
the giving way of the embankment, or " levee," cause 
great destruction of property, and flood large districts. 
The alluvia which is deposited by these floods, sometimes 
to the depth of twelve inches, greatly enriches the land, 
and, when impoverished, compensates for the loss of 
one crop. 

In the long hot summers, the exhalations from the 
marshes render a great part of Louisiana unhealthy ; and 
yellow fever often prevails, especially in New Orleans. 

The great staples are cotton and sugar-cane, but 
the region suited to the growth of the latter extends 
little farther north than the south-western boundary 
of Mississippi. The manufacture of sugar and molasses is 
an important employment on many of the plantations, 
Louisiana supplying about nine- tenths of the whole amount 
produced in the United States. Boots and shoes are made 
here more extensively than in any Southern State. Iron 
casting is also very largely carried on. 

Louisiana is the natural outlet of a large part of the 
commerce of the Mississippi valley, including a large share 
of the cotton crop, and for this reason, it ranks as the first 
State in the Union in the value of its exports, and the 
third in the value of its imports. 

The chief cities and towns are — 

Pop. in 1860. Characteristics. 

New ( city proper, 169,000 > . . .The " Crescent City," so called from 
Orleans (.metropolis, 175,000> its shape around a bend in the 

Mississippi; great maritime and 



LOUISIANA. 



151 



Algiers 



Shreveport 



Eaton Kouge. 



Jefferson 



Pop. in I860. Characteristics. 

inland commerce, the exports far 
exceeding, in value, those of any 
other city of the United States, 
except New York; chief cotton 
market of the world; principal 
market of the United States for 
sugar, molasses, and tobacco, and 
largest shipping port for bacon, 
salted pork, and lard ; magnificent 
custom-house (the largest edifice 
in the Union) ; branch of the 
United States Mint ; University 
of Louisiana. 

.. .G,000 Integral part of the metropolis of 

New Orleans, communicating with 
the city proper by steam-ferry ; 
ship-building and other manufac- 
tures. 
.Commercial depot of northern and 
eastern Texas and western Ar- 
kansas ; large trade in cotton ; 
important lake and river naviga- 
tion. 
.State capital; thriving trade; 
numerous literary institutions ; 
asylum for the deaf and dumb 
and for the blind ; State peni- 
tentiary ; United States arsenal. 

.5,000 Depot of a rich agricultural region ; 

extensive trade in produce, meats, 
etc., for the supply of the New 
Orleans market. 



.6,000. 



,000. 



152 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OP AMERICA. 






MISSISSIPPI. 

Mississippi was first visited by De Soto, the Spanish 
discoverer, about 1541. The enmity of the Indians, how- 
ever, and other obstacles, prevented any immediate occu- 
pation of the country by Europeans. It was not till 1728 
that a permanent settlement was made by the French. 
The country fell into the possession of the British crown 
upon the conclusion of the Peace of Paris in 1763. In 
1798 the colony was organized as a Territory, Alabama 
forming a portion thereof. It was admitted into the Union 
in 1817. Area, 47,156 square miles. Population, 791,305. 
State capital, Jackson. 

One seventh of the area of Mississippi consists of 
swamps and marshy tracts. There is a stretch of this 
description between the Mississippi and Yazoo and Tal- 
lahatchie rivers, covering an area of nearly 7000 square 
miles, and varying in width from ten to one hundred 
miles. The lower portions of the State are subject to inun- 
dation, and dykes or levees are built along the river banks, 
to restrain the unruly floods of the Mississippi. Some- 
times, however, a breach, or " crevasse," occurs, when the 
country is inundated for many miles, the water often remain- 
ing for weeks. Where the country is not thus occupied by 
swampy or marshy stretches, it sweeps away in broad table- 
lands, shaped into grand terraces, or steps descending from 
the eastward to the waters of the great river. The steps are 
formed by two ranges of bluffs, which sometimes extend 
to the river shores, and halt abruptly in perpendicular pre- 
cipices of fifty, and even a hundred feet high. These 
bluffs are features of great and novel attraction to the 
voyager on the Mississippi river. The south-eastern portion 



Mississippi. 153 

of the State is covered principally with pine barrens. The 
north-eastern portion consists chiefly of extensive prairies of 
great fertility, and are unsurpassed in their adaptability for 
cotton-growing. The winters here, and in the neighbour- 
ing State of Louisiana, have a temperature a few degrees 
lower than that of the same latitudes near the Atlantic. 
The fig and the orange grow well in the lower part of the 
State, and the apple flourishes in the higher hilly regions. 
Cotton is the great staple of Mississippi, the State being 
the third in the Union in this product. Besides cotton, 
the soil yields great supplies of Indian corn, and all species 
of grain and grasses, as well as live stock of very con- 
siderable value. Mississippi has no very extensive mineral 
products — gold, coal, and marble have been found, but in 
no important quantities. 

The manufactures consist chiefly of sawed and planed 
timber, and of machinery; the latter has increased con- 
siderably within a few years. The products of this State, 
however, with the exception of what are derived from 
its plantations and forests, are comparatively of little 
value. 

The commerce of Mississippi, owing to the want of a 
good harbour on the Gulf, is trifling ; but an important 
trade is maintained by steamboats on the Mississippi, and 
the smaller rivers. 

The chief towns are : — 

Pop. in 1S60. Characteristics. 

Jackson 3,500 State capital; contains State penitentiary, 

lunatic asylum, university. 

Natchez 14,000 " City of the Bluffs," situated partly on 

a cliff 200 feet above the river ; ex- 
tensive trade in cotton ; various manu- 
factures; beautiful gardens and orange 
groves ; numerous educational insti- 
tutions. 



154 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OP AMERICA. 

Pop. in 1860. Characteristics. 

Yicksburg 5,000 Important railway centre ; active river 

commerce ; great trade in cotton ; 

chief commercial port of the State. 
Columbus 3,500 Healthful location; depot of a large 

cotton trade ; centre of a highly fertile 

cotton region ; river commerce. 



ALABAMA. 

Alabama was settled originally by the French, at Mo- 
bile in 1713, and was admitted into the Union, August 2, 
1819. Area, 50,722 square miles. Population in 1860, 
964,201. Montgomery is the State capital. 

The country gradually declines from the north", which 
reaches the foot of the Alleghany Mountains, to the Gulf 
of Mexico, where it is level for fifty or sixty miles from 
the coast. In the north, where hills are the prevailing 
feature, the soil is but moderately fertile ; though, in the 
intervening valleys, the fertility can scarcely be ex- 
celled. It is the region of the cereals, and a fine grazing 
country. The central portions, less elevated and undu- 
lating, are well watered, and in the river bottoms is ex- 
tremely rich and productive. The extensive and fertile 
prairies, extending across the central portion of the State, 
are unsurpassed in their capability for growing cotton. 
The valley of the Alabama River is one of the most 
fertile regions in the Union. The southern portion of the 
State consists principally of pine-barrens. Where capable 
of cultivation, the soil is rich. The growth in this region 
is of a tropical character. 



ALABAMA. 155 

The climate is moderate in the north, and the rivers 
never freeze in winter. In the south, the heat in summer 
is very great, though tempered by the breezes from the 
Gnlf of Mexico. 

In the amount of its cotton crop, Alabama exceeds 
every other State in the Union ; and in its crop of maize, 
is excelled amongst the Southern States by Virginia only. 
The sugar-cane has been found to succeed in the ex- 
treme southern strip, between Florida and Mississippi. 
Rice grows well on the alluvial lands near the Gulf. 

The mineral resources of Alabama are very great. The 
whole central region is underlaid with vast beds of iron 
ore, or occupied by coal-measures of great thickness and 
extent ; the coal found here being of highly bituminous 
character. Besides coal and iron, Alabama yields lead ore, 
manganese, several descriptions of ochres, limestone, and 
marbles ; and, in the north-eastern section, gold in consi- 
derable quantities has been found. 

The manufacture of sawed and planed timber, cotton 
goods, and machinery (for the most part cotton-gins) are 
relatively important. Machine manufactures are much 
more extensive than in any other of the Gulf States. 
Alabama has considerable foreign and internal commerce. 
Her ports being open to the sea through Mobile Bay, give 
an outlet not only to her own productions, but also to 
some of those of the neighbouring States. 

In the value of its exports to foreign countries, consist- 
ing mostly of cotton, it is the fourth State in the Union ; 
its direct foreign imports, however, are trifling. 

The chief cities and towns are : — 

Pop. in I860. Characteristics. 

Montgomery ... 16,000.. .State capital ; centre of a highly fertile cotton 
region ; extensive river commerce and in- 
land trade ; many costly private residences. 



156 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 



Pop. in 1860. Characteristics. 

Mobile 27,000... Chief commercial port, next to New Orleans, 

on the Gulf of Mexico, and second cotton 
market in America ; excellent public 
schools ; benevolent institutions ; magnifi- 
cent private residences. 

Selma 5,000... Centre of a highly fertile cotton region ; large 

inland trade and river commerce ; iron 
manufactures. 

Tuscaloosa 4,000... Head of steamboat navigation on the Black 

Warrior River ; inland trade ; manufac- 
tures of iron castings and cotton goods; 
University of Alabama, and other literary 
institutions ; State lunatic asylum. 

Huntsville 4,000... Inland trade; canal communication with the 

Tennessee River ; many elegant and costly 
private residences ; excellent public schools 
and colleges. 






TEXAS. 



Much of the early history of the State of Texas is 
marked by turbulence and war. In the year 1821 the in- 
ducements held out to settlers in this region by the Go- 
vernment of Mexico, to whom the territory at that period 
belonged, caused a great flow of emigration thither from 
the United States. This new population had grown so 
great by the year 1832, as to absorb and destroy the 
original feeble spirit under Mexican rule. Admission being 
demanded for the State as an independent member of the 
Mexican confederacy, and refused, Texas declared itself 
wholly free of all allegiance whatsoever to that Govern- 



TEXAS. 157 

ment. The result was a war with Mexico, which was de- 
termined in favour of the Texans. 

Texas continued to be an independent republic until 
her admission, in 1846, as a member of the Union. It is 
by far the largest State, being more than five times as 
large as New York. Area, 274,350 square miles. 
Population in 1860, 604,215. State capital, Austin. 
At the period of the last census scarcely more than one- 
seventh of Texas was settled, the eastern portion being 
that chiefly under cultivation. 

This great State presents every variety of surface — 
mountain, plain, hill, and desert. It may be divided into 
three physical sections. 1. The level, which occupies the 
entire coast, extending from 30 to 60 miles into the in- 
terior. 2. The undulating, embracing the whole interior 
and north, reaching westward to the mountain tract, and 
consisting of high rolling verdant prairies, narrow wooded 
bottoms, beautiful islands of timber. 3. The mountainous, 
with table-lands, well watered and fertile. 

The general character of the soil is that of great fer- 
tility. Cotton, the great staple, grows well in almost every 
part of the State, and that grown near the Gulf is con- 
sidered equal to the famous sea-island cotton. In the 
undulating portion the cereals flourish, and the level coun- 
try is well adapted to the production of sugar. In some 
sections, two crops of Indian corn are grown yearly. 
Cayenne pepper is largely produced. The grape, mulberry, 
and delicious vanilla are indigenous. Fruits flourish, espe- 
cially the peach. Flowers are in abundance ; and Texas 
offers great attractions to the botanist, or lover of the 
beauties of nature. 

Flour and meal are more extensively produced here 
than in any other of the Gulf States. The manufactures 
are of little importance. 



158 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OP AMERICA. 

Middle Texas is famous for its cattle, great numbers being 
pastured throughout the year upon the verdant prairies. 
The vast herds of buffaloes and wild horses, which roam 
upon the western plains, and the numerous deer, bears, and 
wolves, found in all parts of the wilderness, are captured 
in large numbers, affording a rich reward to the hunter. 
The wild horses, known as mustangs, are commonly taken 
with the lasso. 

The climate is free from the extremes of both torrid 
and temperate zones. Ice is sometimes seen in the 
southern portion ; and the heats of summer are con- 
siderably mitigated by the refreshing breezes from the 
Gulf of Mexico. 

Texas abounds with minerals. The silver mine of Said 
Saled is among the richest in the world, and under the 
dominion of Spain afforded considerable revenue to the 
crown. Gold has been found on the Atoyac and other 
streams, especially towards the western hill country ; and 
silver also on the Bedais. Iron ore pervades the greater 
portion of the country. Lead, copper, alum, etc., are 
found in several parts, and bituminous coal on the Trinity 
and Upper Brazos. Salt is exceedingly abundant, and 
large quantities are annually taken from a famous salt 
lake near the Rio Grande. Salt springs and lagoons 
abound near the Trinity, and a branch of the Brazos has 
its waters highly impregnated. Soda and potash are 
found near the salt lagoons in dry seasons. Lime can be 
plentifully furnished from limestone existing in the un- 
dulating and northern sections ; in the level districts 
oyster-shell lime can be substituted. Asphaltum is some- 
times found on the coast. Agate, chalcedony, jasper, and 
some singular petrifactions, are found near the mountains. 
The remains of whole forests are seen on the Trinity and 
Brazos rivers, entirely petrified. Extensive quarries of red 



TEXAS. 159 

and white sandstone, or freestone, abound throughout the 
country. At Austin there is a quarry of white stone 
similar to that of the Paris basin ; it is soft and easily 
worked with the knife, and may be reduced to any form ; 
but on exposure to the atmosphere it becomes a perfect 
freestone, and is as hard and compact as granite 
and marble. The same kind of stone is found on 
the Trinity, and in the vicinity of San Antonio de 
Bexar. 

The maritime commerce of Texas consists chiefly in its 
coasting trade, particularly with New Orleans. The inland 
trade is chiefly promoted by many steamboats plying upon 
the rivers ; and a small overland commerce is maintained 
with Northern Mexico. 

No part of the extensive coast of the Gulf of Mexico 
presents a greater number of commanding harbours, bays, 
and inlets, than that of Texas. The interior, intersected 
by numerous magnificent and navigable streams, in close 
vicinity to the western tributaries of the Mississippi, 
and holding easy communication with the great " Father 
of waters," furnishes a commercial position very desirable 
and seldom surpassed. 

The chief towns are : — 

Pop. in I860. Characteristics. 

San Antonio 8,000 Old Spanish settlement; terminus of an 

important overland mail route to Cali- 
fornia ; large trade with Mexico ; 
wealthy and refined society; United 
States Arsenal. 

Galveston 7,000 Chief commercial port of the State; large 

coasting and inland trade. 

Houston 6,000 Head of steamboat navigation on Buffalo 

Bayou ; principal railway centre of the 
State ; extensive trade ; manufactures of 
iron castings and machinery. 



160 DESCEIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMEBIC!. 

Pop. in 1860. Characteristics. 

Brownsville 5,000 Town opposite the city of Matamoras in 

Mexico ; large trade with, northern 
Mexico and the interior of Texas ; con- 
siderable coastwise and river com- 
merce. 



THE WESTERN STATES. 1G1 



THE WESTERN STATES. 

Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Michigan, 
Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Missouri, Arkansas, 
Kansas. 

The Western States are embraced almost wholly in the 
Great Central Plain of North America, and accordingly 
exhibit little variety of snrface. In the Eastern part this 
plain is broken by the descending terraces of the Appa- 
lachian highlands, and by the low ranges of mountains or 
hills which border the same. West of this they present a 
vast level or undulating tract, reaching far beyond the 
Mississippi. This almost unvarying expanse is chiefly 
made up of half-wooded and open prairies ; the latter, or 
true prairies, being most extensive in Illinois, and in the 
States lyiug west of the Mississippi, and reaching as far 
south as the Ozark Mountains. 

These prairies are essentially different from the llanos 
of South America, and the arid plains west of the Rocky 
Mountains. They are not so uniformly level, and are 
always possessed of a sufficient watershed to produce a 
steady flow in the rivers which drain them. They are also 
free from the protracted droughts which convert the former 
into sterile deserts. The region occupied by them embraces 
the western part of Ohio, nearly the whole of Indiana, 
Illinois, and Iowa, the northern part of Missouri, the 
southern part of Michigan, and portions of Kansas and 
Nebraska. In the two latter States they begin to assume 
the character of arid plains. The prairies are almost 
devoid of trees, which are met with only under peculiar 
circumstances of moisture and soil, being found only in 
scattered copses, or along the margin of streams, and 

11 



162 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

occasionally on low rocky ridges. West of the Mississippi 
the larger growth becomes less frequent, and near longi- 
tude 98° trees and grass alike disappear. The grass, which 
is of a coarse quality, forms excellent pasturage, and is not 
unfrequently interspersed with hazel thickets and sassafras 
shrubs, and in the proper season the prairies are decorated 
with a brilliant garniture of honeysuckles, jessamines, wild 
roses, and violets. 

Along many of the larger rivers the bottom-lands are 
of considerable breadth. Those of the Missouri river, for 
instance, are five miles wide, but those of the Mississippi, 
below its junction with the Missouri, are the most remark- 
able for breadth, being frequently from forty to fifty miles 
wide ; while the bluffs which border them are in some 
places often two to three hundred feet in height. The 
Western States are distinguished for the great depth and 
productiveness of their soil. No region of equal extent in 
the temperate zones rivals them in fertility. 

Owing to the remarkable uniformity of the surface, 
the climate is less varied than in other sections of the 
Union. In parts of the West, intermittent fevers prevail 
to some extent, but this is mostly confined to the newly- 
settled districts, these fevers gradually disappearing as the 
country becomes settled, and the soil is cultivated. 

The Western States are particularly distinguished for 
their rapid growth. Many of them have in less than one 
generation grown up into populous and wealthy States, 
surpassing in manufactures and commerce, and in extent 
of railways, canals, and lines of telegraph, not only many 
of the older Atlantic States of the Union, but some of the 
oldest nations of Europe. Fuller and more detailed 
evidences of this extraordinary development will be found 
in the separate description of the various States and the 
chief cities. 



THE WESTERN STATES. 163 

The middle and southern sections, lying mostly east of 
the Mississippi, are the most thickly settled, comparing 
favourably with many of the older Atlantic States. Most 
of the inhabitants of the West are emigrants, or the des- 
cendants of emigrants, from the more eastern States. The 
people are energetic, enterprising, and progressive ; com- 
paratively free from local prejudices and stereotyped cus- 
toms ; liberal in their sentiments ; and open and cordial in 
their manners. 

The great controlling interest of the West is agricul- 
ture; no other part of the world, except South-Eastern 
Asia, equals it in the production of food crops. The 
raising of bread-stuffs, especially, is conducted upon the 
grandest scale, and the vast fields of waving grain which 
meet the eye on every side are objects of wonder and 
admiration. The Western States are admirably adapted 
to the culture of fruit. Apples, pears, peaches, plums, 
cherries, currants, strawberries, blackberries, quinces, 
apricots, and nectarines reach a rare size and delicacy of 
flavour. Trees and vines grow rapidly and bear largely. 
The mulberry tree grows wild and is hardy and rank. 
With cultivation it would answer every want of the silk- 
grower. The alianthus worm, which has been imported 
from France and naturalized, would find in the abundant 
foliage of this tree rich materials for its fabric. The soft- 
ness of the climate is peculiarly favourable to the health 
and industry of this insect. 

The foreign commerce of the Western States is small, 
owing to their remoteness from the sea-board, yet they have 
a limited commercial intercourse with distant foreign ports, 
by means of vessels traversing the Mississippi, or the St. 
Lawrence and Great Lakes, besides a considerable trade 
with the Canadas. 



164' DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OP AMERICA. 



OHIO. 

Ohio is the most wealthy of the Western States. It 
was settled at Marietta, in 1788, by emigrants from Vir- 
ginia and New England ; ceded by Virginia to the United 
States October 20, 1783, and admitted into the Union 
April 30, 1 802. Area, 39,964 square miles. Population, 
2,339,511. The State had no white settlement nntil five 
years after the close of the American Revolution. In little 
more than half a century she has risen from a mere wilder- 
ness to rank among the first States of the Union, a rate of 
progress unexampled in history except in the adjoining 
States. 

The surface, though much varied, nowhere presents any 
considerable elevation above the general level, but the 
whole country is a lofty tableland, the centre of the State 
being elevated 1000 feet above the level of the sea ; about 
nine-tenths of the surface is susceptible of cultivatiou, and 
the soil may be generally characterized as fertile, much of 
it highly so, especially in the river bottoms. In the cen- 
tral and north-western sections, the prairies are numerous 
and wide. The greater part of the country was originally 
covered with magnificent forests, and timber is still very 
abundant. The climate in the south is mild, but in the 
north the temperature is rigorous. 

Ohio is one of the richest mineral States of the Union. 
Iron and coal abound throughout the eastern portion of 
the State, and are deposited in beds of great thickness. 
The coal is bituminous, is of good quality, and lies very 
accessible, requiring comparatively little outlay to obtain 
it. The iron-trade of this region is destined, at no distant 
day, to become of great magnitude and importance. A belt 
of iron ore, averaging some twelve miles in width, extends 



ohio. 105 

upwards of one hundred miles in length ; each square mile 
of which, it is estimated, is capable of sustaining a furnace 
employing one hundred hands, and yielding eight tons of 
iron per day. Coal of the best quality, from three to 
twenty feet in thickness, underlies the whole of this belt of 
iron ; and there can be no doubt that the mineral region 
of Ohio alone is susceptible of being rendered as valaable 
as the entire mineral region of England. Marble, freestone 
well adapted for building purposes, lime, and gypsum, are 
found in abundance. Salt springs are numerous. 

In the value of its farm-products, Ohio ranks third in 
the Union. In the southern section, tobacco is extensively 
cultivated. Grape-growing receives much attention in 
some localities, chiefly in the vicinity of Cincinnati ; and 
the quantity of wine produced is greater than in all the 
other Western States. 

Ohio is noted for its live stock. Sheep are more nu- 
merous here, and yield a larger amount of wool, than any- 
other State. 

The manufactures exceed in value those of any other 
States except New York, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts. 
They consist of flour and meal, clothing, machinery, 
spirituous liquors, boots and shoes, leather, and farming- 
tools. Great quantities of salt are made from the waters 
of brine-springs in the coal-bearing regions of the State. 
The internal commerce of Ohio is extensive. The amount 
of its overland transportation is exceeded only by a few of 
the other States. The external commerce by way of the 
Ohio River and Lake Efie is very large. 

The chief cities are : — 



Pop. in I860. Characteristics. 

Cincinnati ...161,000... The largest city west of the Alleghanies; 
(in 1866, 230,000) chief commercial centre of the Ohio valley ; 



166 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

Pop. in 1860. Characteristics. 

and nucleus of an extensive railway and canal 
system; principal pork-market in America; 
important manufactures of sale clothing, iron 
goods, furniture, lard, oil, soap and candles, 
wines, etc. ; extensive publication of books 
and other printed matter ; collegiate institu- 
tions. 

Cleveland ... 43,000... Important commercial pert; extensive railway 
and canal business ; large manufactures of 
steam-engines, etc. ; educational institutions ; 
elegant streets and private residences. 

Dayton 20,000... Important railway centre; large transhipments 

of merchandise ; extensive manufactures of 
flour, linseed oil, railway cars, paper, iron- 
ware, etc. 

Columbus ... 18,000... State capital; commercial depot of a rich and 
populous region ; thriving manufactures ; 
magnificent State-house ; medical college ; 
benevolent institution ; State penitentiary. 

Toledo 14,000. . . Chief commercial port at the western extremity 

of Lake Erie ; great railway and canal busi- 
ness ; extensive shipments of grain, flour, 
pork, live stock, etc. 



INDIANA. 

Indiana was settled at Vincennes, in 1690, by the 
French, and formed part of the north-western territory- 
ceded by Virginia to the United States. It was organized 
into a Territory, May 7, 1800, from which the Territory of 
Michigan was set off in 1805, and Illinois in 1809. It was 
admitted into the Union December 11, 1816. Area, 33,809 
square miles. Population, 1,350,428. Capital, Indianapolis. 

The general features of Indiana are those which per- 
tain to all countries where mountain, in the strict sense of 



INDIANA. 167 

the word, is wanting. Nearly two-thirds of the State is 
level, or, at most, undulating ; and a most singular feature 
of the country is the absence of any watershed, or dividing 
ridge, such as almost every geographical region presents, 
from which the waters flow in different directions. Yet 
the country has continuous slopes of great extent. 

The soil of Indiana is generally good, and much of it 
is highly fertile. The richest lands are found in the river 
bottoms, where the soil is very deep. This is especially 
the case in the Valley of the Wabash and its tributaries, 
and the Ohio Valley. The country between the rivers is 
somewhat elevated, and is not so luxuriantly fertile as on 
the river bottoms. It, however, amply repays the labours 
of the husbandman. There is but very little of the State 
that is unculfcivable. 

The climate partakes of the general character of the 
other Western States north of the Ohio. It is subject to 
sudden changes. The winters, though of short duration, 
are usually severe, and snow does not lie long. There is a 
considerable difference in the climate of the northern and 
southern portions of the State. 

Indiana has large beds of coal, estimated to be 7700 
square miles in extent, and to be capable of yielding 
50,000,000 bushels to the square mile. Iron, lead, anti- 
mony, manganese, and zinc, are the principal metals found 
in the State. Salt-springs are also found on the eastern 
edge of the coal formation. 

The leading crops are the same as in the neighbouring 
States. Tobacco is raised in the South. Sorghum, or 
Chinese sugar-cane, has proved very successful here, and 
yields large quantities of molasses. According to the farm- 
ing returns of the last census, more swine were raised in 
Indiana than in any other State, and more sheep than in 
any except Ohio and New York. 



168 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

Although the State is mostly devoted to agriculture, it 
has made good progress in several departments of manu- 
factures. In the production of flour, meal, and spirits dis- 
tilled from grain, it ranks with the leading States of the 
Union; and stood second in the value of boots, shoes, 
leather, and woollen goods made in 1860. A large 
domestic and transit trade is carried on upon its rivers, 
canals, and railways. 

The chief cities are : — 

Pop. in 1863. Characteristics. 

Indianapolis... 19,000... State capital ; terminus of eight different rail- 
ways ; extensive transhipments of merchan- 
dise ; manufactures of railway-cars, bar iron, 
carriages, waggons, farming-tools, etc. ; ele- 
gant State-house ; State institutions for the 
deaf and dumb, blind, and insane. 

New Albany... 13,000... Large inland and river commerce; extensive 
steamboat-building ; manufactures of iron 
merchandise, brass-ware, bagging, etc. 

Evansville ... 11,000... Southern terminus of the Wabash and Erie 
Canal (the longest canal in the United 
States) ; great depot for agricultural pro- 
duce ; large river commerce. 

Eort Wayne... 10,000... Depot of a rich wheat-growing region ; impor- 
tant flour- mills ; exportation of flour, timber, 
etc ; educational institutions. 

Lafayette 9,000. ..Head of steamboat navigation on the Wabash 

Eiver; centre of an extensive railway and 
canal traffic ; one of the chief gi'ain-markets 
of the State ; manufacture of flour, iron 
goods, paper, etc. 



ILLINOIS. 169 



ILLINOIS. 



This State was settled at Kaskaskia, in 1633, by the 
French, and formed part of the North-western territory 
ceded by Virginia to the United States. An Act for 
dividing the Indiana Territory, and organizing out of it 
the Territory of Illinois, was passed by Congress, February 
3, 1809 ; and an Act to enable it to form a State Constitu- 
tion, Government, etc., was passed April 18, 1818, a Con- 
stitution was framed August 26, and it was admitted into 
the Union December 23 of the same year. Area, 55,409 
square miles. Population, in 1860, 1,711,951 ; 1865, 
2,151,006. State capital, Springfield. 

In no part of the Union have towns and cities sprung 
up so rapidly and in such wonderful growth, as in Illinois, 
increasing so fast in population, that the census of one 
year is no standard for the next. 

Illinois is generally a tableland, and characterized as 
level, though there are elevated bluffs on the Illinois and 
Mississippi Rivers. The great landscape features of the 
State are the prairies. The Grand Prairie is the most 
remarkable, being over 150 miles in length, and varying in 
width from one to fourteen miles. In the north there are 
tracts somewhat stony, yet in every other part the plough- 
may pass over millions of acres without meeting so much 
as a pebble to impede its course. The prairies undulate 
in a most graceful manner, and are profusely decked with 
flowers, the brilliant hues of which enchant the beholder. 

" Primrose and pale jessamine. 
The white pink, the pansy freaked with jet, 
The rose, the glowing violet, and the well attired woodbine." 

The most notable characteristic of the prairies is their 
destitution of the larger or arborescent vegetation. The 



170 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

soil is, however, capable of supporting the largest trees, 
and nothing prevents their growth but the continual fires 
which sweep across the prairie country. 

Illinois has a considerable variety of climate, and there 
is great irregularity in the seasons. The winters are 
everywhere severe, and the summers hot and prolonged. 
On the whole, the climate is favourable to out-door occu- 
pations, arid the general salubrity is unquestionable. 

The minerals in the northern part of Illinois are in- 
exhaustible. Coal, limestone, and sandstone are found in 
every part. Iron ore is widely distributed. Lead and 
copper are most common in the north-west. The lead 
mines are most productive, and silver is found in combina- 
tion with the lead ore. Zinc is also mined in some parts. 
The coal of Illinois is bituminous, and is spread over a 
large extent of country. Building stones of almost every 
cfescription are quarried, and immense boulders of granite 
are shown upon the surface. 

Medicinal springs, sulphur, and chalybeate are found 
in various parts of the State. In Jefferson County, there 
is a spring very much resorted to, and in the southern part 
of the State are some waters which taste strongly of Epsom 
salts. 

The soil of Illinois is not excelled, if equalled, in any 
other State of the Union. That of the river bottoms is 
often twenty-five or thirty feet deep, and as inexhaustible 
as that of the Nile. The upper prairie districts are scarcely 
less productive. The richest tracts in the State are the great 
" American Bottoms," lying along the Mississippi, between 
the mouths of the Missouri and the Kaskaskia Rivers, a 
stretch of 80 miles ; the country on the Rock River, and its 
branches ; and that around the Sangamon, and other waters. 
As an instance of the productiveness of the soil, it may be 
mentioned that round about the towns which were first 



ILLINOIS. 171 

settled by the French, the soil has produced Indian corn 
every year, without manuring, for a century and a half. 

The agriculture of the State is mainly devoted to the 
raising of Indian corn. The other staples are wheat, oats, 
Irish potatoes, and hay; 30 bushels of wheat, or 60 
bushels of corn to the acre is a common production. The 
prairies are peculiarly favourable to the raising of stock and 
dairy productions. 

As regards manufactures, Illinois, as compared with the 
other Western States, ranks next to Ohio. Its productions 
being flour and meal, malt and spirituous liquors, farming- 
tools and furniture. 

Its central position among the Western States renders 
it the thoroughfare of an immense trade. The internal and 
transit trade is of great importance, being facilitated by a 
greater extent of railways than exists in any other of the 
United States, and by the various navigable streams 
within its limits. 

The chief towns of Illinois are : — 

Population. Characteristics. 

Chicago 109,000... Unparalleled growth in population, the num- 
ber of inhabitants in 1840 having been 
only 4470; principal primary grain mar- 
ket in the world ; vast commerce by lake, 
canal, and railway — the tonnage of ship- 
ping employed upon the first-mentioned 
being much gi'eater than engaged in the 
foreign trade of New York ; great trade in 
timber, beef, pork, live stock, etc. ; exten- 
sive manufactures of machinery and other 
iron merchandise, flour, spirituous and 
malt liquors, farming-tools, furniture, etc. 

Peoria 14,000... Commercial depot of a highly fertile region; 

water communication with St. Louis and 
Chicago; vicinity of extensive coal mines; 
large manufactures of machinery ; centre 
of extensive railway communication. 



172 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

Population. Characteristics. 

Quincey 14,000... Kiver commerce; large exportation of 

country produce ; extensive manufac- 
tures of iron merchandise, barrels and 
casks, flour, furniture, etc. 

Galena 8,000... Market of the principal lead mining region 

in America; lead and copper smelting 
works ; manufactures of lumber, flour, 
etc. ; active river commerce ; United 
States marine hospital. 

Bloomington.... 7,000... Market of a rich agricultural and grazing 
district ; various manufactures. 

Springfield 12,000... State capital; centre of a highly fertile 

prairie region ; extensive nurseries; costly 
private residences. 



KENTUCKY. 

Kentucky was settled in 1775, by emigrants from Vir- 
ginia. The name Kentucky (the dark and bloody ground) 
is an indication of the early history of the State, and of 
the terrible conflicts which took place with a savage and 
wily foe. It was included in the territory of Virginia till 
1792, when it was admitted as a State. Its area is 37,G80 
square miles. Population, 1,200,000. State capital, 
Frankfort. 

The face of the country presents a variety of aspects. 
In the south-east, the Cumberland Mountains — though 
they attain no great elevations — give to that portion a 
rugged and mountainous appearance ; and the numerous 
spurs, or offshoots, projecting quite into the middle of the 
State, render the surface of the whole eastern division 
somewhat broken and hilly. Farther westward, the 
country becomes undulating, and west of the Cumberland 
River the land is mostly level. A range of hills runs nearly 
parallel with the Ohio River, with bottom lands intervening, 
sometimes having a breadth of ten, or even twenty miles. 



KENTUCKY. 173 

When first settled, nearly the whole surface of this 
State was covered with a dense forest of majestic trees, 
and a close undergrowth of gigantic reeds, forming what 
are called cane-brakes. In the southern part, however, on 
the head waters of Green River and its tributaries, is an 
extensive tract, thinly wooded, and covered in summer 
with high grass growing amid scattered and stunted oaks. 
The most productive soil of Kentucky is that of the 
blue limestone formation. The "blue grass country," 
bordering on the Ohio, embracing an area of about one 
hundred miles square, is of most extraordinary fertility. 
The soil is of a loose, deep, black mould, without sand, 
from two to three feet deep, and exceedingly luxuriant in 
all its productions. In general fertility, Kentucky rivals 
the most favoured parts of the Mississippi Valley. 

In climate, Kentucky enjoys a medium between the 
severity of the Northern States and the enervating heats 
of the South, having but two or three months' winter. 
The autumns and springs are very mild. It is exceedingly 
healthy, and the winter is never so severe as to render the 
housing of cattle necessary. 

Kentucky ranks among the chief agricultural States of 
the Union, the principal crops being Indian corn, tobacco, 
wheat, and hemp. More than one-third of the hemp, and 
about one-fourth of the tobacco, raised in the United 
States are produced here. The yield of flax is also un- 
commonly large. 

The deposits of bituminous coal and iron are exten- 
sively worked. In the production of woollen goods Ken- 
tucky stands very high. Bagging and rope — used for 
cotton bales — are extensively manufactured. The manu- 
facture of tobacco is a noted branch of industry. Ken- 
tucky has a large commerce, though its transit trade is 
much less than that of the States on the north. 



174 DESCRIPTIVE HANDEOOK OF AMERICA. 

Its principal towns are : — 

Pop. in 1860. Characteristics. 

Louisville ., 68,000... Large river commerce; extensive trade 

in tobacco, pork, hemp, etc. ; steam- 
boat building ; important manufac- 
tures of machinery and other iron 
goods, prepared tobacco, sale cloth- 
ing, etc. ; University of Louisville ; 
numerous benevolent institutions. 

Covington 16,471 ) £7 000 -^J acent cities opposite Cincinnati, 

and Newport... 10,046 -' Ohio, and connected with it by 

steam-ferries ; manufactures of 
cured tobacco, cordage, bar-iron, 
etc. ; Western Baptist Theological 
College ; United States barracks. 

Lexington 9,000. . . Large inland trade ; extensive manu- 
factures of bagging, ropes, etc.; 
Transylvania University ; State 
lunatic asylum ; orphan asylum. 

Paducah ...Principal market for the produce o 

the Tennessee valley ; river com- 
merce ; steamboat building, and 
various other manufactures. 



TENNESSEE. 

Tennessee was settled before any other of the lands 
west of the Alleghanies. The first settlement was at Fort 
Donelson in 1756. The early history of the State is full 
of the records of bloody struggles with the Indians. It 
was ceded to the United States by North Carolina in 1789, 
and accepted by Act of Congress the same year; it 
adopted a Constitution, and was admitted into the Union 



TENNESSEE. 175 

in 1796. . Area, 45,000 square miles. Population, 1,109,801. 
State capital, Nashville. 

The surface of the State is very agreeably diversified 
with mountain, hill, and plain, and within its limits are 
found fertility of soil, beauty of scenery, and a delightfully 
temperate climate. The Cumberland hills, and many of 
the mountain ridges and summits, are estimated to be from 
1,500 to 2,000 feet in height ; most of them covered with 
forest trees. The central portion of the State, stretching 
from the mountains to the Tennessee River, has a broken 
surface ; but towards the Mississippi, which forms the 
western boundary of the State, the country is compara- 
tively level. 

Coal and iron are found in great abundance, and there 
are many rich deposits of copper. Gold and silver, lead, 
zinc, manganese, magnetic iron ore, gypsum of superior 
quality, and a great variety of beautiful marbles, slate, 
nitre, burr-stones, and limestone, are among the minerals. 
Valuable salt and mineral springs abound. 

The climate, excepting in the river lowlands, is agree- 
able and healthful — exempt from any extreme of either 
heat or cold. The eastern division is noted for its pure, 
bracing mountain air. 

The hills and mountain slopes of Tennessee, affording 
an abundance of fine pasturage, offer great facilities for the 
raising of stock ; much attention is given to wool-growing, 
and there are hundreds of flocks of sheep of the best 
varieties. Horses, mules, cattle, and swine are raised in 
large numbers for the Southern markets. More live stock 
is raised in Tennessee than in any other State of the 
Union. The soil is generally arable, and of a good quality. 
The western portion of the State has a rich black mould, 
producing large crops. The State altogether forms one of 
the finest agricultural regions on the continent. Large 



176 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

quantities of tobacco, cotton, and Indian corn are grown. 
Rye, oats, barley, and maple sugar, are also cultivated to a 
considerable extent. 

Manufactures, though yet in their infancy, arc 
increasing in importance. Leather, cotton goods, and pig- 
iron are the most prominent articles. 

The chief cities are : — 

Pop. in 1860. Characteristics. 

Memphis 23,000 Principal port on the Mississippi, between 

St. Louis and New Orleans ; important 
railway connections ; great trade in cotton, 
etc. ; ship-building, and various manu- 
factures. 

Nashville 17,000 State capital; head of steamboat navigation 

on the Cumberland Kiver; large inland 
commerce ; manufacture of machinery 
and iron castings ; magnificent State- 
house ; State penitentiary ; lunatic asy- 
lum ; Nashville University. 

Knoxville 3,500 Head of steamboat navigation on the Hol- 

ston Eiver, and port of entry for East 
Tennessee; important railway connec- 
tions ; flourishing trade with the interior ; 
vicinity of extensive beds of coal and iron ; 
large manufacture of window-glass, etc. ; 
deaf and dumb asylum ; East Tennessee 
University. 

Chattanooga ... 5,000 Depot of a thriving inland trade ; river com- 
merce ; manufacture of cabinet furniture, 
etc. 



MICHIGAN. 177 



MICHIGAN 

Was settled at Detroit in 1670, by the French, and was 
part of the territory ceded to the United States by Vir- 
ginia. It was erected into a separate Territory in 1805 ; 
an Act to attach to it all the territory of the United States 
west of the Mississippi River, and north of the State of 
Missouri, was passed in 1834 ; Wisconsin was organized 
from it in 1836 ; a Constitution having been adopted, Mi- 
chigan was admitted into the Union in 1837. Area, 56,213 
square miles. Population, 749,113. State capital, Lan- 
sing. 

This State is nearly surrounded by the waters of the 
Great Lakes, and has a coast of more than a thousand 
miles. There are many beautiful ponds scattered over the 
interior, whose shores are noted for their picturesque 
beauty. The southern peninsula may be generally charac- 
terized as a vast undulating plain, which seldom becomes 
rough or broken. In the south-west are rich prairie lands. 
The shores of Lake Huron consist of steep and rocky 
bluffs ; while Lake Michigan is coasted by shifting sand- 
hills of from 100 to 200 feet in height. The northern 
peninsula is in every respect a contrast to the southern, 
from which it is separated by the Straits of Makinaw ; 
its general aspect is rugged, and the Porcupine Mountains 
attain an elevation of 2000 feet; these mountains are 
succeeded by a succession of plains and hills, which gra- 
dually extend into an elevated tableland, and finally into 
an undulating country, sloping on either hand towards the 
lakes. The greater portion of this region is occupied 
by vast forests, and much of the remainder by sandy 
plains. 

The romantic district of the " Lake State " is in the 

12 



178 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

upper peninsula, which is rich in all the loveliness of 
rugged, rocky coast, of the most fantastic and striking 
character, and varied by beautiful streams, rapids, and 
cascades. Here are found the celebrated "Pictured 
Bocks." 

The soil of Michigan is as varied as its surface ; in 
the southern and middle portions it is characterized by 
great fertility, consisting mostly of a deep sandy loam, 
free from stone; in the north it is sterile, and a large 
portion possesses but few agricultural capabilities. Much 
of Southern Michigan is occupied by natural lawns, with 
scattered groups of trees, called " oak openings." 

The climate is one of extremes, but much tempered 
by the proximity of the lakes. In the south it is com- 
paratively mild ; but in the north the winters arc extremely 
cold and rigorous. 

There is little or no agriculture in the northern portion. 
In the southern, the chief crops are wheat and rye. In 
the production of potatoes, peas and beans, orchard fruits, 
butter aud cheese, Michigan ranks among the principal 
Western States ; and in the yield of maple sugar is sur- 
passed only by New York, Vermont, and Ohio. The 
production of peppermint in the State is becoming a 
very considerable branch of business, as it appears from 
the internal revenue department that 90,000 dollars' worth 
of that article was manufactured during the year 1865. 
The clip of wool for 1864 amounted to eight millions of 
pounds. From this it would seem that Michigan is des- 
tined to become one of the leading, if not the first, wool- 
growing States in the Union. 

It also promises to become one of the chief apple- 
raising States. The shipments in 1865 were estimated 
at 410,000 barrels, which, at an average price of 
3 dollars 50 cents per barrel, were worth nearly 1,500,000 



MICHIGAN. 179 

dollars. The lakes and streams afford productive fisheries, 
the white fish being especially abundant. 

The northern peninsula contains most of the mineral 
wealth of the State, and possesses probably the most 
valuable copper mines in the world, the deposits are of 
unsurpassed richness, masses of pure copper, several tons 
in weight, having been mined. The quantity of ore shipped 
in 1865 was 10,000 tons. Iron is found in both the 
northern and southern peninsulas ; 273,000 tons were pro- 
duced in 1863. Lead, gypsum, limestone, and marl are 
also found. In the lower peninsula is some coal, but it is 
not extensively worked. 

Manufactures are actively carried on ; and the State 
has a thriving and extensive commerce, of which a large 
portion is with Canada. Vast quantities of timber are cut 
in the northern forests ; the annual produce of sawn timber 
is estimated at nearly 8,000,000 feet. 

The chief towns are : — 

Pop. in 1860. Characteristics. 

Detroit 46,000 Extensive commerce; great exportation 

of wheat, flour, beef cattle, etc. ; ship 
and boat-buildiDg ; manufactures of 
timber, machinery, etc. ; broad and 
beautiful streets. 

Grand Rapids 8,000 Principal commercial mart of Western 

Michigan ; head of natural navigation 
on Grand River ; great water-power ; 
flourishing manufactures ; quarries of 
limestone, marble, and gypsum. 

Adrian 0,000 Centre of trade for a rich agricultural 

region ; exportation of grain ; great 
water-power; manufactures of ma- 
chinery, etc. 

Kalamazoo 6,000 Market of a rich farming district ; valu- 
able iron mine ; manufactures of pig- 
iron, iron castings, machinery, etc. j 



180 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

Pop. in 1860. Characteristics. 

Kalamazoo College, Baptist Theolo- 
gical Institute, and other superior 
educational institutions ; State luna- 
tic asylum. 

Jackson 5,000 Active trade with the interior ; valuable 

mines of anthracite and cannel coal ; 
extensive and various manufactures; 
State penitentiary. 



IOWA. 



Iowa is the fourth State that has been carved out of 
the vast territory purchased from France in 1803. It was 
settled by the French at Dubuque, in 1836 ; was organized 
as a separate Territory in 1838 ; and in 1846 was admitted 
into the Union. Area, 55,045 square miles. Population, 
674,913. State capital, Des Moines. 

Iowa is a country of unrivalled beauty. Its surface is 
moderately undulating, with no mountainous parts. The 
southern portion is the most picturesque, abounding with 
grassy lawns and verdant plains, interspersed with groups 
of trees and meandering rivulets. In the north the 
scenery is more striking ; the hills and mounds, none of 
which reach a great elevation, are covered to their tops 
with towering oaks, and magnificent streams of water fall 
over precipitous ledges of rocks to the lower plains. 
The prairies stretch out in vast unbroken plains; the 
upland prairies being the most beautiful and the best 
adapted for cultivation ; their soil is generally a rich 
olack mould, mixed with a sandy loam, red clay, and 
gravel. The valleys of the Cedar, Iowa, and Des Moines, are 
the principal agricultural regions of the State, and perhaps 



IOWA. 181 

stand first with regard to the capability and character of 
the soil, though nowhere is the land either unprofitable or 
unproductive, and no State has so little inferior land. 

The climate is beautiful, and well adapted to agricul- 
ture, and though the rivers are frozen over from December 
to March, the peach blossoms in April and wheat ripens 
early in August. The air is dry and bracing, especially on 
the prairies. The country is free from epidemic, and pul- 
monary diseases are comparatively unknown. Periodical 
breezes blow over the prairies with much regularity. 

Like the majority of the Western States, Iowa owes its 
prosperity to its agricultural resources, and probably no 
country possesses greater attraction to the agriculturist. 
The fine prairies are easily cultivated, and its natural 
pastures afford peculiar facilities for the rearing of cattle 
and sheep. Wheat, corn, oats, barley, potatoes, and wool 
are the staple products. The returns of 18G0 show an in- 
crease in wool at the rate of 100 per cent. In proportion 
to the extent of its improved land, Iowa supplies more 
grain than any other State. Sorghum is largely cultivated, 
and the yield of sorghum molasses is unequalled else- 
where in America. 

Although mainly an agricultural State, Iowa is possessed 
of great mineral wealth ; the mineral region is confined to 
the neighbourhood of Dubuque. The lead mines are ex- 
tensive, and are among the most productive and valuable 
in the world. Iron ore is abundant in several districts ; 
but as yet the mines have not been worked to any great 
extent. Bituminous coal is obtained from rich deposits in 
the interior, and always finds a ready market at various 
points on the Mississippi River. 

Such manufactures as are common in the West, are 
being rapidly develop jd here ; although at the period of 
the last census none but those of flour, meal, and sawn 



182 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

timber had become important. Paper and farm machinery 
are manufactured to some extent. Extraordinary facilities 
for steamboat trade are afforded by the great rivers which 
bound the State or pass through its limits. 
The chief towns are : — 

Pop. in 1860. Characteristics. 

Dubuque «,« . ..13,000 Chief market of the upper Mississippi Valley 

for grain, timber, etc., and principal depot 
of the lead-mining region of Iowa ; large 
river commerce and inland trade. 

Davenport 11,000 Picturesque scenery ; important railway 

connections ; bridge across the Missis- 
sippi ; valuable coal-mines ; various 
manufactures ; Iowa College. 

Keokuk 8,000 Chief market for tha products of the Des 

Moines Valley ; important river com- 
merce ; medical department of the State 
University. 

Burlington 7,000.... ..Flourishing commerce; extensive trade in 

timber and pork ; large manufactures of 
machinery, farming tools, flour, etc. 

Muscatine. 5,000 Large inland and river commerce; impor- 
tant trade in timber ; various manufac- 
tures. 

Iowa City 5,000 Head of steamboat navigation on Iowa 

river ; various manufactures ; chief bank 
of the State; Iowa State University; State 
asylum for the deaf and dumb and the 
blind. 



WISCONSIN. 133 



WISCONSIN. 



Wisconsin was settled by emigrants chiefly from the 
New England States and New York. It was formed into 
a Territorial Government in 1836, and admitted into the 
Union in 1848. Area, 53,924 square miles. Population, 
775,881. State capital, Madison. • 

Wisconsin, like most of the north-west section of the 
Union, consists chiefly of stretches of elevated prairie land, 
sometimes 1000 feet higher than the level of the sea. 
There are no mountains in this State, but there are charac- 
teristic plateau ridges, which drain the waters, and afford 
beds for the rivers and lakes ; the land declines rapidly 
towards Lake Superior, and the streams are much ob- 
structed by falls and rapids. The shores of Lake Superior 
and Lake Michigan are often most picturesque, fringed 
now with magnificent forests, now with rocky precipices. 
The waters are clear, and abound in delicious fish. 

The climate, though extremely severe in winter, is 
regular, and free from unhealthy and rapid changes. 

The southern and middle portion is a fine agricultural 
region. In the northern part of the State the land under 
cultivation forms but a small portion, the surface being 
to some extent covered with drift and boulders, with many 
ponds and marshes. Immense and valuable forests of pine 
and oak compensate, however, for the lack of agricultural 
capabilities. It is distinguished as a wheat-growing State, 
being surpassed only by Illinois. The crops next in im- 
portance to wheat are hay and oats. 

A number of beautiful marbles exist in the northern 
part, some of a pink colour, with seams of deep red, others 
of a blue and dove colour. 

Lead is extensively mined in the south-western part of 



184 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OP AMERICA. 

the State, which includes most of the rich lead-bearing 
region. A small quantity of copper is also mined. A bed 
of magnetic iron ore lies south of Lake Superior. In the 
cutting and sawing of timber, Wisconsin racks third 
among the Western States. 

The commerce in the products of the fields and forests 
is large, being facilitated by the great extent of the navigable 
waters. Wisconsin has* the chief control of the " lumber " 
market of the Mississippi Valley. 

The chief cities are : — 

Pop. in 1860. Characteristics. 

Milwaukee 45,000 Second commercial port on Lake Michigan; 

excellent harbour ; great exportation of 
grain and other farm produce, timber, brick 
(of superior quality and beauty), wool, beer, 
etc. ; extensive manufacture of flour, sawn 
timber, machinery, etc. ; female college ; 
numerous charitable and benevolent insti- 
tutions. 

Racine 9,000 Remarkably healthful situation; flourishing 

commerce ; large exportation of agricul- 
tural produce ; various manufactures ; Ra- 
cine College ; excellent public schools. 

Janesville 8,000 Important railway centre; market of the 

richest agricultural district in the State ; 
thriving manufactures ; Wisconsin Insti- 
tute for the Blind. 

Madison 7,000 State capital; highly picturesque scenery; 

flourishing trade ; extensive pork-packing 
establishments ; various manufactures ; 
University of Wisconsin; State lunatic 
asylum. 

Oshkosh 6,000 Extensive timber trade; manufactures of 

flour, agricultural implements, iron cast- 
ings, etc. 



.MINNESOTA. 185 



MINNESOTA 

Was settled about the year 1846, by emigrants from the 
Northern and Western States. It was organized as a Ter- 
ritory in 1849, and admitted into the Union in 1857. Area, 
83,531 square miles. Population, 172,123 whites, and 
about 25,000 Indians, many of the tribes being of a warlike 
character. State capital, St. Paul. 

Its name is derived from the river Minnesota, which 
means, in the Dacotah tongue, " muddy water." 

In 1851 immigration set in most rapidly. In 1850 the 
number of ploughed acres was 1900 ; in 1854, 1500 ; and in 
I860, 433,276, having increased nearly thirtyfold in six 
years. A large portion of the State is a fine rolling prairie 
of rich soil, a sandy loam adapted to the short summers of 
the climate, and which produces bounteously. The country, 
excepting the Missouri plains, is interspersed with numerous 
beautiful lakes of fresh water, all abounding in the finest 
fish, and their banks covered with a rich growth of wood- 
land. The land is about equally divided between oak 
openings and prairies, the whole well watered by numerous 
streams, many of them navigable for steamers. 

The surface of the country is undulating, with a great 
diversity of landscape, and beautified by a number of 
picturesque lakes, sparkling waterfalls, and high bluffs. 
The climate is marked by distinct peculiarities ; it has the 
winter temperature of Canada and New England, without 
their excessive falls of snow. The area of the State suited 
for.agriculture is about three-fourths of the entire extent, 
or 40,000,000 acres, and there remained, in 1865, 37,000,000 
acres open for settlement. The soil in the valleys of the 
rivers is most excellent ; above the Falls of St. Anthony 
it is generally too wet for cultivation. 



186 DESCKIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

The southern portion, comprising about one half of the 
State, embraces the best farming lands, and presents a 
remarkable uniformity in the presence of those elements 
which are essential to the highest fertility. The principal 
crops, in the order of their value, are hay, wheat, Indian 
corn, potatoes, and oats. The wheat yield of Minnesota 
for 1865 is said to be unprecedented, it averaging 27 
bushels to the acre, and the entire crop being estimated at 
12,000,000 bushels. Copper and iron ore exist in consider- 
able quantities ; also coal ; good building stone, slate, and 
clay are found in different sections of the State ; a remark- 
able mineral is the red pipestone, of which the Indians 
make their pipes. 

The State has an abundance of the finest milling and 
manufacturing facility. The falls of St. Anthony have a 
capacity estimated by engineers to be equal to 120,000 
horse-power. This water-power is situated in the centre 
of a fertile country. It is also the head of several thousand 
miles of navigation. A great extent of unimproved land is 
devoted to the pasturage of beef cattle and swine. Manu- 
factures, except of flour, meal, and sawn timber, are com- 
paratively unimportant. 

The principal towns are : — 

Pop. in 1860. Characteristics. 

St. Paul 10,000 Head of steamboat navigation on 

the Mississippi River ; active 
commerce and inland trade; 
various thriving manufactures. 

St. Anthony 3,258) fiftno Grand waterfall on the Missis- 

and Minneapolis 2,564 ) ' sippi ; sawn timber manufac- 

ture ; trade with the interior ; 
University of Minnesota. 

Stillwater 3,000 Extensive timber manufacture and 

trade ; market of a rich agricul- 
tural district; State peniten- 
tiary. 



MISSOUEI. 187 



MISSOURI. 



Missouri formed part of the ancient territory of Louisi- 
ana, purchased by the United States from France ; and 
was settled in 1763 by the French. It was admitted into 
the Union in 1821. Area, 65,037 square miles. Popula- 
tion, 1,182,012. State capital, Jefferson City. The face of 
the country in the south-east, near New Madrid, was 
greatly changed by the earthquakes which, occurred in 
1812 ; hills entirely disappeared ; lakes were obliterated 
and others formed. The waters of the Mississippi River 
were turned back with such accumulations that they over- 
flowed the levels, and inundated whole regions. 

The surface of this great State is in many parts level, or 
but slightly undulating. A wide marshy tract occupies an 
area of 3000 square miles in the south-eastern part, near the 
Mississippi ; in other sections are vast reaches of prairie 
land, which, extend to the Rocky Mountains ; 

" Wide rolling prairie, like waves of the ocean, 
Laughing with plenty for hands that will toil, 
Broad shady woods, 'mid whose wind-given motion 
Sunlight comes dancing down over the soil." 

Its healthy climate, rich soil, and immense mineral 
wealth, claims and is receiving the earnest attention of 
emigrants westward bound. Immediately south of the 
Missouri River, which divides the State into two parts, the 
soil is well adapted for general agriculture, and the 
mountain portions of the south are renowned for their 
magnificent pine forests, comprising millions of acres. 
The western section is generally regular and uniform. 
Of the 35,000,000 acres of arable land in the State, 
2,000,000 are the alluvial margins of rivers, and 20,000,000 



188 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

high rolling prairie. This soil is practically inexhaustible, 
in the bottoms the mould is sometimes six feet deep. Some 
farms, after bearing without artificial fertilization twenty- 
five successive crops, have yet failed to show any material 
decrease in productiveness. The strength of the land and 
the length of the season often permit two harvests to be 
gathered from the same field in one year. 

The State is remarkably rich in iron ore, lead and 
copper and coal mines, and in nearly all the mineral pro- 
ducts, including sulphuret of zinc, tin, silver, platina, 
cobalt, nickel. It possesses, also, a great variety of mar- 
bles, and other valuable building stones. The supply of 
iron ore is practically inexhaustible, Iron Mountain, Pilot 
Knob, and other immense masses of pure ore, are estimated 
to be able to furnish above surface one million tons per 
annum. The lead mines have been worked for fifty years, 
and next to iron, lead is the most abundant mineral in the 
State. Small deposits of gold have been found. Among 
the Western States, in the value of its iron manufactures, 
Missouri is surpassed only by Ohio, and is one of the chief 
manufacturing States of the "West. The vast coal beds 
which underlie the northern section add largely to the 
value of the lands ; they vary in thickness from three to 
fifteen feet, and will probably yield not less than 20,000 
tons per acre. 

Missouri possesses many natural advantages, and offers 
great inducements for prairie farming, its extensive 
regions with uniform evenness of surface, the native and 
inexhaustible richness of prairie soil, and the mild and 
healthy climate, make it a most favourable locality for 
agricultural purposes. Notwithstanding the wonderful 
Avealth of soil, more than 25,000,000 acres of land in 
Missouri are uncultivated, and 0,000,000 acres are subject 
to entry at government price or under the Homestead Law. 



MISSOURI. 189 

All the cereals grow with rank luxuriance. Cotton is 
produced in the southern portion of the State. Sorghum 
and Imphee are developing into a large interest. Hemp 
and tobacco are two of the main staples ; equal to the 
best growth of Kentucky and Virginia, they are a vast 
source of wealth to the State, and few crops yield a larger 
profit. Missouri jDroduces more than 45 per cent, of the 
hemp of the United States. Fruit culture is one of the 
most lucrative branches of industry ; the mulberry tree 
grows wild and is very hardy. Like many other sources 
of wealth in Missouri, the pine forests still remain in their 
primeval solitude, waiting the hand of intelligent industry 
and enterprise to develop their wealth and turn them to 
account. There are millions of acres of land in the 
southern and south-eastern portion of the State covered 
with a growth of yellow or hard pine, equal to that of any 
other region. From these turpentine, resin, and tar, can 
be profitably made ; about 50,000 dollars' worth was made 
during the year 1865. The soil in the central and southern 
portion is all that could be desired for the culture of the 
grape, which has already been greatly developed ; the 
yield since 1849 being about 250 gallons per acre, worth 
on an average one dollar and a half per gallon. It is 
reckoned that at least 15,000,000 of acres are suitable both 
as regards soil and climate, for grape cultivation, or about 
three times as many as are taken up by the vineyards of 
France. The climate of Missouri is exceedingly mild, the 
summers are long and salubrious, and the winters short 
and free from any severe frosts. 

The commerce of Missouri is very important, through 
the great facilities offered by the navigation of the two 
greatest rivers in the United States. By means of the 
Mississippi she has commerce with the vast Northern 
territory of the Union, with the whole valley of the Ohio, 



190 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

some of the Atlantic States, and the Gulf of Mexico ; by 
the Missouri, which passes through the central part of the 
State, she can extend her commercial intercourse to the 
Rocky Mountains. According to the census of 18G0, 
Missouri ranked as the sixth stock-producing State in the 
Union. 

The principal towns are : — 

Pop. in 1860. Characteristics. 

St. Louis 161,000 Commercial centre of the Mississippi Valley; 

immense river trade; vicinity of rich 
mines of coal, iron, lead, and copper; 
great exportations of bread-stuffs, pork, 
lead, and hemp ; extensive steamboat 
building ; extensive manufactures of iron 
goods, flour, refined sugar, lard oil, etc. 
In the extent of its flour business, it 
is unrivalled by any other Western city ; 
United States arsenal; St. Louis 
College. 

St. Joseph, 9,000 Western terminus of highly important rail- 
way route ; point of departure for the 
overland mail and express to California 
and intermediate places, and for large 
westward emigration ; extensive trade ; 
manufactures of flour, timber, bagging, 
etc. ; United States marine hospital. 

Hannibal ...... 7,000 Highly important railway connections ; mar- 
ket of a rich agricultural section ; manu- 
factures of cured tobacco, flour, iron 
castings, etc. ; active commerce. 



ARKANSAS. 191 



ARKANSAS 



Was settled at Arkansas Post in 1685, by the French, 
and was part of the Louisiana purchase ceded by France 
to the United States in 1803. It was formed into a Terri- 
tory in 1819, and admitted as a State in 1836. Area, 
52,198 square miles. Population, 435,450. State capital, 
Little Rock. The physical conformation of this State is 
exceedingly varied. The eastern portion, forming the west 
bank of the Mississippi River, is low, flat, and swampy for 
a distance of from thirty to sixty miles from the river. In 
the interior the country becomes somewhat hilly, occa- 
sionally varied with rolling prairies; and, still further 
west, rises into the Ozark Mountains. In the north-east 
portion, the valley of the St. Francis River is one con- 
tinuous cypress swamp, the Black Hills being the only 
considerable elevation. No State in the Union possesses 
so many navigable streams as Arkansas, though, owing to 
the protracted drought of summer, none save the Missis- 
sippi can be ascended by vessels of large size more than 
nine months in the year. 

The soil of Arkansas is varied in character, and for the 
most part is extremely sterile, or of extraordinary pro- 
ductiveness. Much of the hilly country will not repay 
cultivation, while the river-bottoms are of the richest and 
deepest black mould, yielding fifty to eighty bushels of 
Indian corn to the acre. The country west of the Ozark 
Mountains and the northern section of the State, however, 
is elevated and fertile, producing excellent wheat, and, 
perhaps, the finest apples in the world. The staple pro- 
ductions of Arkansas ar-e Indian corn, cotton, and live 
stock, with considerable quantities of wheat, oats, tobacco, 
wool, peas, beans, sweet potatoes, rye, barley, buckwheat, 



192 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMEBICA. 

hops, hemp, flax, silk, grass-seeds, Lay, and also some 
maple sugar, honey, wine, and cheese. The pecan, a spe- 
cies of hickory, furnishes in great abundance the nut of 
that name, now a considerable article of commerce. Im- 
mense quantities of the different kinds of timber are 
shipped down the Mississippi to New Orleans. The State 
still abounds with many wild animals. The bear, deer, and 
here and there the buffalo, still afford ample sport to the 
hunter. 

Arkansas is rich in undeveloped mineral wealth. 
Cannel, bituminous, and anthracite coal is found in great 
abundance on the banks of the Arkansas; and zinc 
exists in greater quantities than in any other State except 
New Jersey. Iron, lead, gold, and manganese are also 
found ; while the beds of gypsum are said to equal those 
of all the other States together. Extensive beds of 
fine oil-stone, and some rich salt-springs, have also been 
discovered. The climate is temperate, but subject to 
sudden changes ; and terrific thunder-storms prevail during 
the spring and summer. The hilly country and table- 
lands are salubrious, but the low valleys are destitute of 
water, and are exceedingly unhealthy. 

The manufactories of this infant State are, with the 
exception of saw-mills and tanneries, quite insignificant. 
As might be expected of a country just emerging from the 
wilderness, education and all the arts of civilized life are 
equally backward. 

In Arkansas are those hot springs which have of late 
become so celebrated for their curative properties as to 
attract rheumatic invalids from all parts of the Union. 
The springs, about one hundred in number, are situated 
in a sandy ridge near the Washita Eiver, and vary in tem- 
perature from 105° to 160°. 

The chief towns are : — 



KANSAS. 193 

Pop in 1860. Characteristics. 

Little Eock 4,0C0 State capital ; contains United States arsenal; 

State penitentiary; large interior com- 
merce. 

Batesville 1,000 Head of steam navigation of White Eiver. 

Fort Smith 2,000 Military post ; extensive trade with Indians. 

Camden 1,500 Head of navigation for large steamers on 

Red Eiver ; flourishing trade. 



KANSAS. 

Kansas was organized as a Territory by Act of Con- 
gress in 1854. It was settled by emigrants from the 
Eastern, Northern, and Southern States, and was admitted 
into the Union, January 29th, 1861. Area, 80,000 square 
miles. Population, 107,000. State capital, Topeka. 

For several years a fierce contest raged in this Terri- 
tory on the subject of slavery ; but this strife was finally 
adjusted by its admission into the Union as a free State, 
that being the declared will of the majority of its inha- 
bitants. 

The natural scenery of the State is highly beautiful. 
The- prairies, broad and extensive, stretch for miles in 
many places. There are high bluffs running through the 
entire length of the State, while ravines run from them to 
the rivers ; these are, at some points, quite deep, and 
difficult to cross, and to a traveller unacquainted with the 
country, somewhat vexatious, especially where the prairie- 
grass is from four to six feet high. The ravines are, in 
many instances, pictures of beauty, with tall, graceful 
trees standing near, and springs of joure cold water gush- 
ing from the rock. The bluffs are a formation unknown 

13 



194 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

in form and appearance in any other portion of the West. 
Many of them appear like the cultivated grounds about 
fine old residences — terrace rising above terrace with 
great regularity, while others appear like forts in the 
distance. 

The climate is exceedingly agreeable, with a clear, dry 
atmosphere, and gentle, health- giving breezes. Objects 
may be clearly distinguished which, at the same distance 
in any other parts of the country, could not be seen at all. 
The winters are usually very mild and open, with scarcely 
any snow ; so mild are they, that the cattle feed the 
entire year in the prairies and river-bottoms. The spring 
weather commences in February. 

The soil of Kansas is unsurpassed by any in the Mis- 
sissippi Valley, preserving everywhere the character of a 
rich, heavy loam. The first terrace above the rivers is 
covered with an alluvial soil, often four to six feet in 
depth ; the higher terraces and uplands have the common 
prairie soil of the West ,• the subsoil is usually a stiff clay, 
in some localities mixed with gravel ; lime is everywhere a 
prominent ingredient of the soil. Water-powers are found 
upon some of the streams. The eastern portion, which 
is still mostly open for settlement, is one unbroken stretch 
of arable land, with a drainage so perfect that not a pond 
or swamp exists over its whole extent ; a fine, nutritious 
grass grows everywhere, yielding, even on the dry prairies, 
two tons of hay per acre. Owing to the dryness of the 
atmosphere, fruit ripens quickly, and its juices are con- 
centrated to the finest flavour. 

Kansas has great capacities for agriculture and stock- 
rearing. In 1860 the chief staples were Indian corn, hay, 
and potatoes. The production and manufacture of wool 
promises to become an important branch of industry, and 
a large portion of the State is well adapted for sheep- 



KANSAS. 195 

raising ; so profitable has this already proved that woollen- 
mills are erected in Atchison. In addition to the stock 
of sheep in the State, it is estimated that from 50,000 
to 75,000 will be annually imported from various parts of 
the Union. 

Besides the great capabilities of Kansas for agricul- 
tural purposes, stock-raising, and wool-growing, she has 
another source of wealth, in relation to wliich but little is 
known, in the salt springs which exist above Fort Riley, 
in the valleys of the Republican, Solomon, and Saline 
Forks. So abundant are these surface brines, and of such 
uncommon strength, as sensibly to affect the quality of 
the large streams of water which run through those valleys 
and empty into Smoky Hill Ri^er. These salines are of 
great benefit to the stock-raiser, whose flocks and herds 
require no salting, as in the Eastern States. The western 
section is the best suited to grazing. Deer and bears are 
captured in all parts of the wilderness, and buffaloes on 
the western plains. 

Manufactures have acquired little importance. The 
building of machinery, however, is of considerable im- 
portance. 

Kansas, being situated nearly in the middle of the 
national domain, with rich mineral regions, in the pathway 
to the Pacific, is the channel of a large westward emigra- 
tion, and of a rapidly growiDg commerce. 

The chief towns are : — 

Pop. in 18G0. Characteristics. 

Leavenworth... 7,500 Chief city of the Missouri Valley ; remark- 
ably rapid growth ; large river commerce ; 
extensive trade with the Territories ; thriv- 
ing manufactures. 

Atchison 3,000 Principal station for forwarding merchandise 

received from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Salt 
Lake City and Marysville, California ; 



196 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OP AMERICA. 

Pop. in 1860. Characteristics. 

weekly mail express and passenger coaches 
to the latter points. 

Lawrence 2,000 Trade with southern and south-western 

Kansas ; intelligence of its inhabitants ; 
literary institutions ; newspapers. 






THE PACIFIC STATES. 197 

THE PACIFIC STATES. 

California, Oregon, Nevada, Colorado. 

The development of the Pacific and Rocky Mountain 
section of the public domain is truly surprising. It is re- 
markable that while the Union was engaged in a great 
civil war, it was nevertheless growing in wealth and 
developing its resources. This was due in a great measure 
to the mineral riches and virgin soil of this region, and so 
rapid has been its progress, that the maps of one year are 
almost obsolete the next, 

In 1860, California and Oregon were the only Pacific 
States. To these have since been added, Nevada and 
Colorado. These States have literally been carried into 
the Union by the stream of precious metals they have 
poured forth from sources seemingly inexhaustible. The 
population has increased in a most rapid degree, consisting 
chiefly of emigrants from the Eastern States, attracted by 
the wealth of the districts, though nearly all nationalities 
are represented. 

The mining operations constitute the principal industry, 
though agriculture receives much attention. The vegeta- 
tion of these States is remarkable for its rapid and exces- 
sive growth. The forest trees reach an enormous size in 
the valleys, and the market produce is developed in the 
same proportion. As the demand for produce arises in 
proportion to the increase of the population, a premium is 
held out to agriculturalists. The demand for capital and 
labour is great, in order to develop the resources of the 
region embraced by these States. 



198 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 



CALIFORNIA. 

The history of this State is of great interest. It was 
discovered by Cortez in 1534. Sir Francis Drake visited 
the coast in 1570, and the country was settled by the 
Spaniards at Diego abont the same time. The war between 
the United States and Mexico, in 1846, resulted in its con- 
quest and purchase. After several attempts to organize 
it as a Territory or admit it as a State, a law was passed 
by Congress for the latter purpose, which was approved in 
1850. Area, 188,981 square miles. Population, 305,439. 
Capital, Sacramento. 

In January, 1848, James W. Marshall, in the employ 
of Captain Sutter, at Sutter's Mill, where the present town 
of Coloma is situated, discovered gold, and from that 
time the progress of the country has been unprecedented. 
" California," says the Hon. William Stewart, " the 
mother of the Pacific States, has, since the discovery of 
gold, laboured under disadvantages and embarrassments 
that would have crushed any country less favoured by 
nature, or inhabited by a less enterprising people. Her 
intercourse with the east was hindered by thousands oi 
miles of travel over mountains and deserts, inhabited by 
hostile Indians ; or by long and perilous voyage through 
tropical seas and foreign lands. Her people were at first 
transient, coming with the intention of gathering the 
golden treasure to spend in their eastern homes. But 
California has progressed : her cities, her fertile fields, her 
manufactories, her commerce, and her hills ard mountains, 
upturned in search of gold, mark the wealth of her resources 
and the energy of the powers of the Pacific." 

No other country comprises within so small a space 
such various and strongly marked characteristics ; moun- 



CALIFORNIA. 190 

tains steep, rugged, and barren ; valleys fertile and beauti- 
ful ; sterile deserts, broad prairies, and dense forests ; 
extensive marshes, and magnificent rivers, all in striking 
juxtaposition, are found. The two great ranges of moun- 
tains, the Sierra Nevada and the Coast Range, traversing- 
the State north-west, and south-east, give the State its 
characteristic features. Between these two great ranges 
lies the extensive country of the First Division, a valley of 
some 5.000 miles in length, with an average breadth of 75 
miles, with a rich soil and warm climate. The lateral 
valleys, with an elevation of from 1000 to 5000 feet above 
the level of the sea, produce hardy fruits and grains com- 
mon to the more northern States. A belt of gigantic 
timber, consisting of pines, firs, cedars, oaks, etc., etc., 
extends the entire length of the Sierra Nevada range, 
affording a supply of wood which can hardly be exhausted. 
The mining region also stretches along this range, extend- 
ing on the north into the Coast Mountains, passing into 
Oregon with an average breadth of forty or fifty miles, at 
some points extending from the valley to near the summit 
of the Sierra, a distance of 100 miles. 

The Second Division, located near the coast, contains 
many beautiful valleys, some of which are very extensive, 
as that of the Salinas, whose outlet is at the Bay of Mon- 
terey and the country adjoining Los Angelos and San Diego. 
This portion has a cooler climate than the lower valleys of 
the First Division, owing to their proximity to the sea. 
Oaks and gigantic red woods afford fine timber. 

Of the Third Division, situated east of the Sierra Nevada, 
but little is known, yet many fine valleys occur, and gold 
is found along the eastern slope of the Sierra. 

Orchard fruits are cultivated with great success. 
Grapes grow most luxuriantly, and require apparently but 
little attention. In 1865 the amount of wine produced in 



200 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

California is stated to be 2,000,000 gallons, or more than 
twice as much as was produced in the whole of the United 
States in 1860. The number of grapevines in the State 
was 40,172,650 many of which were not in a bearing condi- 
tion. When these vines become productive, there is little 
doubt but that the annual product of wine will be at least 
35,000,000 gallons. The culture of raisins promises to 
become an important feature. Strawberries, blackberries, 
and raspberries are also extensively cultivated ; from the 
latter a wine of inferior quality is made. 

Although little more than one third of California is 
suited to tillage, and but a small part of this area has been 
as yet cultivated, its capacity for producing the cereals is 
extraordinary. The production of wheat in 1860 was 
7,500,000 bushels. The State produces more barley than 
all the rest of the Union, and has an annual surplus of 
about 5,000,000 bushels. The average yield of wheat is 
from twenty to twenty-five bushels to the acre ; large 
fields, however, have frequently borne from seventy to 
eighty bushels an acre. Next in importance are hay and 
potatoes. Garden products are largely cultivated. Cattle 
are extensively reared, immense herds roaming at large 
upon the plains. 

The vegetation of California grows with remarkable 
rapidity, and trees and vegetables reach an enormous size ; 
ten feet diameter is by no means an uncommon size for a 
forest tree, or twelve or fifteen inches for a turnip. The 
State is peculiarly adapted for fruit. The most luscious 
kinds, such as figs, oranges, melons, grow in abundance 
on the slopes and in the valleys of the interior. 

Mining is the most prominent and important industrial 
pursuit, it employs more men, and pays a larger average 
wage, than any other branch of physical labour. The 
mines now wrought are of gold, silver, quicksilver, copper, 



CALIFORNIA. 201 

and ccal. Ores of tin, lead, and antimony, beds of sul- 
phur, alum, lakes of borax, and springs of sulphate of mag- 
nesia, are likewise found. The gold mines are, however, 
the most important ; the annual yield is about $40,000,000 
(£8,000,000). It is impossible to ascertain the amount 
of gold which has been taken from the mines ; the exports 
of the precious metal, according to tke customs books, 
from the commencement of the year 1849 to the close of 
1864, were as follows : — 



1849 34,921,250 

1S50 27,676,346 

1851 ..; 42,582,695 

1852 46,586,134 

1853 57,331,044 

1854 51,328,663 

1855 45,182,631 

1856 48,887,543 



1857 $48,976,697 

1858 47,548,025 

1859 47,649,461 

1860 42,303,345 

1861 40,639,080 

1862 42,561,761 

1863 46,071,920 

1864 14,662,328 



Total, sixteen years, $694,908,923. Six months of 1865, $22,307,492. 
Grand total, $717,216,415 (£143,443,283). 

Nearly all the copper ore, and a good deal of valu- 
able gold and silver ore, is sent to Great Britain to be 
worked. 

The remoteness of California from extensive manufac- 
turing districts, and the active demand of its population 
for the various products of art, has led to a rapid develop- 
ment of manufactures within its own limits, hence, at the 
period of the last census, it ranked in this department of 
industry before any of the Southern or Western States, 
except Ohio. The production of heavy or bulky articles 
receives most attention ; the building of machinery, in 
particular, being quite large. Salmon and white-fish 
abound in the inland waters. California is also to some 
extent concerned in the Pacific whale-fisheries. 

The commerce is as yet chiefly with, the eastern part of 
the United States, but the foreign trade is important, and 



202 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

is steadily increasing. Petroleum must be classed among 
the natural resources of California, oil having been "struck " 
in the southern part of the country, in the Mattole region. 
The first well bored yields about twenty barrels per day. 
The chief cities are : — 

Pop. in 1860. Characteristics. 

San Francisco 57,000 Chief commercial port on the Pacific 

Est. pop. in 1863. coast ; immense exportation of gold ; 
120,000 also large exportation of flour, potatoes, 

etc. ; ship and boat-building, and 
various other important manufactures ; 
extensive works for assaying and re- 
fining precious metals ; branch of 
United States Mint; United States 
marine hospital ; United States navy 
yard. 

Sacramento 14,000 State capital; principal dep6t for the 

mining region of the Sacramento valley ; 
fine market-gardens ; large river com- 
merce. 

Stockton 16,000 Chief market of the mining region of the 

San Joaquim Valley ; head of large 
internal navigation ; State hospital, and 
asylum for the insane. 

Marysville 16,000 Chief town of Northern California; 

large river commerce and trade with 
northern mines. 



OREGON, 

In 1778, the celebrated navigator, Captain Cook, sailed 
along the shores of Oregon. In 1791 the waters of the 
Columbia River were discovered by Captain Gray, of Boston. 
An exploring party was sent out in the year 1804 by the 
United States, commanded by Lewis and Clark, who 



OREGOX. 203 

wintered in 1S05-6 at the mouth of the Columbia. From 
this period the coast was a great resort of both English 
and American fur traders. In 1811 a trading post was 
established at the mouth of the Columbia River by the 
American Eur Company, who named it Astoria. Eor 
some time a Provisional Territorial Government existed, 
but the boundary remained unsettled until the treaty with 
Great Britain in 1846, when the 49th parallel was adopted. 
It was formally organized as a, Territory in 1848 ; was 
divided in 1853 on the 46th parallel, the northern portion 
being called Washington, and the southern Oregon. In 
1857 a State Constitution was adopted, under which it was 
admitted in 1859. Area about 95,274 square miles. 
Population, 52,465. State Capital, Eugene City. 

The coast of Oregon, viewed from the sea, is like that 
of California, stern and rockbound, excepting that while in 
the latter region the nearer mountains follow the line of 
the shore, in Oregon they approach the ocean at a great 
angle. The lower or Pacific country occupies an area of 
from 75 to 120 miles wide, in which lie the great valleys of 
Willamette, Umpqua, and Rogue Rivers. The country is 
principally mountainous, some narrow strips of country 
lying around the coast between the mountains and the sea 
are very rich and productive, but the difficulty of commu- 
nication has hitherto retarded their settlement. 

The greater portion of Oregon is sterile and unfit for 
cultivation, yet the Willamette and other valleys are un- 
surpassed in fertility. The agricultural interest of these 
valleys has received a great stimulus from the require- 
ments of the mining population of California. The Willa- 
mette Valley is from 30 to 40 miles wide, and 120 miles 
long, and is a beautiful fertile and well watered plain, with a 
soil of gravelly clay, mixed with loam. In some places the 
land is marshy, but never wet. The vegetation consists of 



20 i DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

indigenous grasses, a number of flowering plants and ferns. 
The western division of Oregon is covered with dense 
timber, chiefly fir, spruce, and hemlock. In the south- 
western portion there are some considerable forests of white 
cedar. The climate here, as on all the Pacific coast, is milder 
than in the corresponding latitudes near the Atlantic ; the 
winters are comparatively brief, and the snows, when snow 
falls at all, are very light. It approaches closely to that of 
England, and, as a rule, those plants and animals which 
do well in Britain will prosper in Oregon. Gold is found 
in various parts of southern Oregon, and silver, lead, and 
copper in the Cascade Mountains ; during a period of 
nine years the amount of gold obtained was valued at 
963,458 dollars. Coal deposits of great value have been 
discovered with alternate layers of gypsum, and from the 
surveys which have been made it is believed that an inex- 
haustible supply of both can be obtained. 

Its inhabitants are principally emigrants from the older 
States. The Indian population is comparatively small ; 
the eastern part is frequented by the Shoshones. Agricul- 
ture and stock-raising are pursued in most of the settle- 
ments with great success, the staples being wheat, hay, 
and potatoes. Corn is a less important product, owing to 
its growth being checked by the prolonged drought and by 
the cool night of summer. The orchard fruits are ex- 
ceedingly abundant and of excellent quality, particularly 
apples and plums. 

In a State so recently and sparsely settled as this, 
saw-mills and grist-mills are of course the chief manufac- 
turing establishments ; considerable capital, however, has 
been invested in factories for coarse woollen goods, and in 
machine shops, breweries, and distilleries. A large 
quantity of flour, apples, cheese, butter, salted salmon, 
salted meats, and coal are exported, and from 15,000 to 



OREGON. 205 

20,000 head of horned cattle are annually driven to Cali- 
fornia. Salmon is abundant in the Columbia River, the 
fishing being done chiefly by Indians. The salmon fish- 
eries in most of the rivers are excellent. Within the last 
few years, game, especially fur-bearing animals, has con- 
siderably lessened. Buffaloes are taken upon the plains 
east of the Blue Mountains. The commerce consists chiefly 
in the exchange of sawn timber, farm products, furs, and 
gold for manufactured goods and tropical products. 
The chief towns are : — 

Pop. in 1860. Characteristics. 

Portland 1,400 Head of ship navigation on the Willamette 

River ; chief commercial town ; State 
penitentiary. 

Salem Late capital; centre of a rich agricultural 

region ; steamboat traffic ; fine water 
power; "Various manufactures ; oldest uni- 
versity on the Pacific coast of the United 
States. 

Jacksonville Inland trade; vicinity of gold mines. 

Oregon City Yicinity of fine timber land; falls on the 

Willamette River ; superior manufacturing 
facilities ; grist-mills and saw-mills. 



NEVADA 

Yv r as organized as a Territory in March, 1861, and admitted 
as a State by proclamation of the President in October, 
1864. Area, 80,000 square miles. Estimated population 
in 1866, 60,000. State capital, Carson City. 

Although situated in the great basin, separated from 
the navigable waters of the Pacific by the snow-capped 
Sierra, and from the navigable waters of the Missouri by 



206 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

the Rocky Mountains and a thousand miles of uninhabited 
country, this State has risen during the last few years 
from the condition of a barren waste to a highly pros- 
perous position. It is one of the richest States in the 
Union in its mineral resources, no region in the world 
having so great an abundance of argentiferous ores. Her 
mountains of silver yield up their treasures at the touch of 
the enchanter, and it is the wonderful mineral wealth, vast 
beyond comparison, which has summoned, as if by magic, 
an energetic population to occupy and adorn spots, which 
a few years ago could boast no more imposing habita- 
tion than an Indian wigwam. In 1862 a contribution 
of §20,226 was sent to the Sanitary Commission in eight 
massive silver bars, five of which weighed 11 libs, each, 
indicating the great wealth of so young a State as well 
as the liberality of the population. Quicksilver, lead, and 
antimony are also found in great abundance. 

The surface of Nevada is mountainous, the average 
elevation of its valleys is about 5000 feet. Some of the 
peaks of the Humboldt Mountains are 11,000 feet in 
height. The land to a great extent is barren, though in 
the vicinity of the mountains there are many fertile 
valleys and extensive grassy tracts well suited to pasturage. 
Nevada possesses a healthy climate. The winters are of 
moderate length and severity, and no rain falls during six 
or eight months out of the twelve. The agricultural 
resources have not been yet developed to any great extent, 
indeed with the exception of a few fertile spots here and 
there, the country, unless artificially irrigated, is incapable 
of cultivation. In the valleys stock-raising is profitably 
pursued. 

Statistics of the total yield of the mines have not been 
kept. It is authentically stated that the present daily 
average from Virginia City alone is about $15,000 (£3000) 



NEVADA. 207 

in bullion. The Gould and Corry mine, discovered in 
1859, is calculated to have produced up to 1866 over 
§15,000,000 (£3,000,000). The yield of gold during 
1861-2 amounted to $53,846. Much of the ore mined is 
of surprising richness, specimen tons assaying in some 
cases S3000 to $5000, but the average of the "Washoe 
district does not exceed $65 per ton, and that of the 
Eeese River about $150. The returns for 1864 show 
that the Washoe district with a population of 20,000 pro- 
duced $24,000,000 of silver. The total exportation for the 
same year was $30,000,000 (£6,000,000). The following 
statistics show the extraordinary capabilities of the principal 
mines. The yield of the Gould and Corry mine for the 
year ending November 27th, 1865, was 12,948 tons, valued 
at $38.14 per ton, and amounting to $493,816.72. The 
yield of the Chollar-Potosi mine for the same period was 
12,509 1 tons of ore, valued at $30.75 3-5 per ton, amount- 
ing to $884,742.10. The Savage yielded 8,036 tons, 
valued at $36 per ton, and amounting to $343,404. The 
Ophir yielded 3000 tons, valued at $18.33 1-3 per ton, and 
amounting to $55,000. The Mexican yielded 1794 tons, 
valued at $17.92 2-5 per ton, amounting to $32,119.81. 
Total number of tons extracted, 32,2851, amounting 
to $279,101.68 from those five mines. A basin of pure 
salt, five miles square, has lately been discovered. On the 
Hemaess Pass has been found a large vein of native iron 
mixed with small quantities of gold and silver. 
The chief cities are : — 

Pop. in 1865. Characteristics. 

Virginia City ...about 15,000 Chief city of Western Nevada; 

centre of Washoe mining region 

and commerce. 
Austin City 6,000 Centre of the Eeese Eiver district; 

important commercial interests. 



208 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OP AMERICA. 

COLORADO 

Was organized as a Territory in 1861, from parts of 
Kansas, Nebraska, and Utah, and applied for admission as 
a State in I860. Area, 106,475 square miles. Population, 
80,000, besides Indians. State capital, Golden City. 

It is intersected north and south by the Rocky 
Mountains. The eastern half is one vast plain, destitute of 
timber, with a fertile soil, and divided by many streams. 
The plains are covered with rich nourishing grass, capable 
of sustaining millions of cattle. The western half is high 
tableland, timber being abundant on the slopes of the 
mountains. " The scenery," says a recent writer, "is the 
grandest that can be conceived. Two noted mountains, 
Pike's Peak and Long's Peak, rising to the height of three 
miles, lift their snowy heads into the heavens ; and a cir- 
cular range of snow-covered mountains reaches from one 
of these vast spurs to the other ; the whole forming a 
natural amphitheatre, the diameter of which is 150 miles. 
Strawberries and raspberries flourish at an altitude of 
two miles ; and, as I was assured again and again, straw- 
berries can be taken with one hand and snow with the 
other. Many of the most delicate and beautiful flowers 
come right up through the snow." 

The mineral resources of Colorado are opening up very 
advantageously to operative capital. The Colorado metals 
run in beds, mixed with quartz and pyrites, necessitating 
all the appliances of underground mining, crushing-mills, 
etc., to render the ores available. This will deter adven- 
turers, to some extent, from settling, but it will call in 
heavy capital, will raise up large communities, will compel 
large cultivation of the rich valleys, and thus render the 
Territory, with its magnificent climate, one of the best of 
regions for the enterprising settler. The mineral deposits 



COLORADO. 209 

are principally of silver, gold, copper, lead, and iron. 
There are also vast limestone-quarries, and an extensive 
bed of marble. Immense beds of coal have been disco- 
vered at the foot of the mountains. Gj^psum-beds, also, 
exist ; and mineral springs, alkaline, sulphurous, and cha- 
lybeate — most of them so highly charged with carbonic acid 
as to be designated " boiling "' springs. Governor Gilpin, 
in his report of August 8, 1863, says, " Gold exists in 
Colorado in inexhaustible quantities. Undoubtedly the 
State is unequalled in capability of realizing mineral 
wealth." The United States Commissioner thus speaks of 
the mines : — " Quartz that yields £12 per ton will pay in 
favourable localities ; but there are veins now worked that 
yield from $20 to $500 per ton. Mines that barely paid 
at the surface are yielding enormous profits at a depth of 
150 and 200 feet." The returns of the Philadelphia mint 
show that Colorado is at present second only to California 
in the amount of gold coined there, the State having 
furnished for coinage nearly four times as much gold as 
any other one of the new States or Territories. The 
receipts up to 1865 amounted to $80,000,000. Works are 
erecting at Golden City for the manufacture of railway 
bars. Extensive mines of iron ore have been discovered 
there, which will be worked by eastern capitalists, and 
promise to yield great wealth. 

The climate of this elevated country is remarkablv 
healthy and invigorating, while the soil is rich and pro- 
ductive ; being capable of producing, by the aid of irri- 
gation, corn, wheat, barley, potatoes, oats, turnips, and 
every kind of vegetable, and of most superior quality. 
Agriculture and grazing receive some attention in the 
valleys. The pasturage in many sections is unsurpassed ; 
the grass being exceedingly nutritious, and the dryness of 
the climate causing it to cure, or become hay, while stand- 

14 



210 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OP AMERICA. 

ing in the field — so that the out- door supply of fodder is 
abundant through nearly the whole winter. 
The chief towns are : — 

Pop. in 1860. Characteristics. 

Denver City 5,000 Metropolis of Colorado; extensive com- 
merce with the mining regions ; various 
manufactures. 

Coloradp City 1,500 Centre of mining region. • 



THE TERRITORIES. 211 

THE TERRITORIES. 

Washington, Montana, Idaho, Dakota, Utah, Nebraska, 
Arizona, New Mexico, and the Indian Territory. 

(For Government, see Chapter IV.) 

These Territories embrace an extent of country con- 
taining over a million of square miles, and many of them 
possess mineral treasures of incalculable value, whilst 
others have large agricultural resources. The opening of 
the Pacific Railway (see Railways) will add greatly to the 
value of this domain. White population in 1860, 220,149, 
in 1866 over 300,000. 



WASHINGTON. 

This Territory was taken from the northern part of 
Oregon, and occupies the extreme north-western portion of 
the Union, It was organized by Act of Congress in 1853, 
and is principally settled by emigrants from the Northern 
and Western States. Estimated area, 70,000 square miles. 
Population, about 15,000. Capital, Olympia. The western 
section is heavily timbered, and one of the chief sources of 
its wealth is the utilization of the immense forests of fir, 
spruce, and cedar. The eastern section consists of fertile 
prairies, which have attracted many settlers. The forests 
abound in elk, deer, and other noble game. Wild fowl, 
also, of many varieties, are plentiful ; and in no part of 
the world are finer fish to be had — cod, salmon, herring, 
and halibut being in abundance. The rivers are rapid 



212 DESCEIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMEEICA. 

mountain streams, replete with picturesque beauty, in "bold, 
rocky cliffs, precipices, and in charming cascades. 

The soil is exceedingly varied. The well-watered 
valleys in the west are of superior fertility ; but most of 
the Territory east of the Cascade Mountains is better 
suited to pasturage than tillage, although tolerably well 
interspersed with productive lands. The western and 
north-western part of the plain of the Columbia is dry and 
barren. Little is known of the mineral resources of this 
Territory. Gold, silver, lead, and copper ores are, how- 
ever, found, and iron is known to exist in several locali- 
ties. Bituminous coal of a superior quality is also found 
on the borders of Pugefc's Sound. The Indian population 
is probably not far from 18,000, comprising numerous 
tribes. The white inhabitants are rapidly increasing. 

The principal farm products are wheat, oats, barley, and 
rye. "Wheat is grown in nearly all parts of the Territory, 
and the yield is generally good. All the grasses that 
have been tried have been found to flourish exceedingly. 
Fruits, with the exception of peaches, thrive well ; and all 
varieties of berry grow in abundance. Spars from the 
forests are shipped in great quantities to Asia and Europe. 
Throughout the entire Territory there are extensive graz- 
ing grounds. The farmers usually turn their stock into 
the commons, and provide neither food nor shelter for 
them. When beef is wanted, they go into the woods and 
shoot an ox down, be it June or Februar}^. 

The Indians near the coast, as well as more or less of 
the white settlers, are much engaged in fisheries for whale, 
salmon, oysters, etc. Those in the interior are chiefly em- 
ployed in hunting, and raising cattle and horses. The 
facilities for the latter pursuit are admirable, the dryness 
of the climate and limited fall of snow, east of the Cascade 
Mountains, admitting of pasturage throughout the winter. 



MONTANA. 213 

Some of the tribes have acquired much property, single 
Indians owning herds of from 1000 to 4000 stock. The 
Indians are, however, comparatively few in number, and 
nearly all the tribes have been located on small reserva- 
tions, in order that they may be more easily controlled. 

The future commercial importance of Washington is 
plainly indicated by the superior facilities which it enjoys 
for communication across the continent, and the fact that 
its excellent harbours are nearer to the great marts of 
Asia than those of any other of the States. 

The chief towns are : — 

Top. in 1860. Characteristics. 

Oly mpia 500 ? Capital of the Territory ; market of a line farm- 
in g region. 

Whatcom 500? Market of a rich agricultural region; trade 

vrith. British Columbia. 



MONTANA. 

This Territory was organized by Act of Congress in 
1864. Area, 201,373 square miles. Population in 1865, 
about 30,000. A great portion of this region is susceptible 
of cultivation ; although forming in part the northern 
limit of the United States, the climate is comparatively 
mild and remarkably healthy. " I estimate," says ex- 
Governor Stevens, " that in the valleys on the western 
slopes of the Rocky Mountains, and extending no farther 
than the Bitter Root range, there may be some 6000 square 
miles of arable land, with good soils ready for occupation 
and settlement. The numerous mountain rivulets tributary 
to the Bitter Root River, that run through the valley, 
afford excellent and abundant mill-seats, and the land 



214 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

bordering these is fertile and productive, and has been 
proved beyond doubt to be -well suited to every branch of 
agriculture." The Indian tribes are numerous, but gene- 
rally peaceably inclined. The proposed line of the Northern 
Pacific Railway will cross the Rocky Mountains through 
one of the mountain passes in this Territory. Gold is 
found in numerous localities along the different ranges of 
mountains, as well as in the beds of the streams flowing 
into the Columbia and Missouri Rivers. Of the gold 
mines, Mr. Hall, in his " Guide to the Great West," says : — 
" The mines of the Deer Lodge and its tributaries are 
in extent 100 miles, and pay from $10 to $50 per day to 
the hand. Gulch diggings, in the vicinity of Bannock 
City, have a total length of 30 miles, and pay $8 to $40 
per day. Gulch diggings, in the vicinity of Virginia City, 
are in length 86 miles, and pay $10 to ?200 per day to the 
hand. Prickly Pear and its tributaries pay from $8 to $100 
per day, and are 147 miles in extent. Yellow-stone, lately 
opened near its source, 39 miles in extent, pays $10 to $40 
per day. Here is a total of 402 miles of placer or gulch 
diggings being wrought at this time (1865) with wonder- 
ful results. It is estimated that at least 830,000,000 
(£6,000,000) per annum will be taken from the Gulch 
mines alone." 



IDAHO. 

This Territory, lying on the west side of the Rocky 
Mountains, was organized by Act of Congress in 1863. 
Area, 125,000 square miles. Population in 1866, about 
30,000. Capital, Idaho City. 

The very recent and rapid settlement of Idaho, com- 



IDAHO. 215 

menced within two or three years past, has grown out of 
the gold discoveries in the neighbouring British posses- 
sions. These discoveries attracted thousands of adven- 
turers from California, who soon afterwards pushed their 
explorations towards Eastern Oregon and Western Idaho. 
From that period to the present, a steady and increasing 
tide of emigration has set thitherward, and the resources 
of the land are being daily revealed and utilized, both in 
its mineral stores and its agricultural capacities. Settle- 
ments are rapidly growing up, roads are being constructed, 
the waters are navigated, schools and churches are appear- 
ing, with all other adjuncts of permanent and progressive 
civilization. 

Gold has been discovered on nearly all the tributaries 
and head- waters of the Missouri and Yellow Stone rivers, 
and still farther north, reaching to and going beyond the 
national boundary. Platina has been gathered in small 
quantities from the streams by the Indians. Copper and 
iron exist in abundance, and salt is plentiful in many loca- 
lities. Coal also is found on the Upper Missouri and 
Yellow Stone, and has been discovered upon the Pacific 
slope of the Rocky Mountains. The higher mountain 
ranges of this region are bleak and barren, but the lower 
hills are generally well wooded, and the soil of the valle}^s 
productive. The whole is watered by numerous streams 
and springs, the former of which by their rapid flow 
afford extensive water-power, which is of great value for 
driving mills, and otherwise aiding in separating the rich 
mineral deposits from the sands and rocks with which they 
are intermixed. The climate in the valleys is mild and 
salubrious, but upon the plains and hills it is cold, and the 
country is subject to deep snows. 



21G DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AJIERICA. 

DACOTAH. 

This Territory was organized by Act of Congress in 
1861, set off from the western portion of Minnesota when 
that Territory became a State. It is drained by the Mis- 
souri River on the south, and by the Red River of the 
North, emptying into Hudson Bay. Area, 152,000 square 
miles. Capital, Yankton. Population in 18G5, estimated 
at 9000 whites, and a large number of Indians of different 
tribes. 

Being easily accessible by the Missouri River, which 
runs from the so nth- east to its north-western corner, 
and bounded on its entire north-eastern line by the Red 
River of the north, this Territory offers unusual facilities 
for agricultural and grazing operations. The buffalo and 
other wild animals are found in great abundance. Large 
quantities of valuable furs and peltries are obtained ; and 
recently indications have appeared of the existence, in the 
Black Hills, 300 miles west from Yankton, of good supplies 
ol gold, iron, and coal. 

The climate of Dacotah is healthful and genial, and the 
soil is well suited to agricultural and grazing purposes, 
being rich in the yield of grain, fruits, and vegetables. 



UTAH. 



This Territory was organized by Act of Congress in 1850. 
It is included in the " Great Basin of North America," 
west of the Rocky Mountains. Area, 100,382 square miles. 
Population in 18G5, 93,000. Capital, Great Salt Lake City. 

The country is for the most part mountainous, and the 
valleys can only be cultivated by irrigation. The southern 



UTAH. 217 

part has been but little explored. So far as is known, the 
surface east of the Wahsatch chain includes numerous 
broad plains ; but is considerably diversified with moun- 
tains, valleys, and abrupt ravines. West of the Wahsatch 
it is more generally level. Wooded tracts are rare, except 
upon the mountains. Drought and sterility prevail in 
many parts. In the hollows of the Great Basin the soil 
is frequently covered with a saline or alkaline crust. The 
accumulation of salt in Great Salt Lake is such as to 
render it untenable by any living thing. The sur- 
rounding valley, however, is the best watered and most 
fertile region of the Territory. The soil is formed princi- 
pally of mountain washings, consisting of gravelly loam, 
well adapted to the growing of wheat and other cereals. 
The climate, considering its elevation and distance from 
the sea, is remarkably mild and uniform; the summers 
being warm and dry, the winters mild and open ; fevers 
and pulmonary complaints are unknown. Though Utah 
has no great claim to be considered a mining country, 
yet gold and silver are found in considerable quantities. 
The yield of the former, from 1860 to 1863, being $100,000. 

The Indian population is estimated at about 20,000. 
The whites are for the most part emigrants from Europe. 
They belong chiefly to the singular sect termed Mormons, 
one of the leading features of whose social system is 
polygamy. 

Agriculture is practised, with the aid of irrigation, in 
the valleys of Great Salt Lake and of several of the rivers. 
Pasturage receives much attention. Wheat is the great 
staple, and in good seasons the average yield is from 60 to 
70 bushels per acre. Vegetables grow to an enormous 
size. Figs, grapes, apples, pears, peaches, apricots, currants, 
are j)roduced in abundance, and are of superior quality. 
A considerable quantity of cotton was exported in 1865. 



218 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

The remoteness of this region from thriving commercial 
marts has led to a noteworthy development of manufac- 
tures for the supply of its own internal wants. Utah is 
the thoroughfare of considerable overland commerce, and 
its trade with passing caravans is important. 

The chief towns are : — 

Pop. in 1866. Characteristics. 

Great Salt Lake City ...17,000 City of the Mormons; principal 

station on the overland route 
through South Pass or Bridger's 
Pass to Nevada and California j 
seat of considerable trade and 
some manufactures. 

Provo ? Large water-power ; various manu- 
factures ; valuable trout-iishery 
in the neighbouring lake. 

Ogden 1,500 Market of a fine grazing and agri- 
cultural region. 



NEBRASKA. 

This Territory, organized by Act of Congress in 1854, 
was mostly settled by emigrants from the Northern and 
Western States. The Nebraska, or Platte River, runs 
through the middle of the State from west to east. Area, 
76,000 square miles. White population in 1860, 28,842 ; 
in 1866, about 50,000. There are various roving tribes of 
Indians, who subsist by hunting the buffalo and other 
game. 

The surface of Nebraska is chiefly a gentle rolling 
prairie, with deep ravines and well-timbered bottom-lands 
along the rivers. The climate is favourable to agriculture, 
and the atmosphere mild and dry. The soil is easily cul- 



ARIZONA. 219 

tivated, and produces all the grasses without irrigation. 
Vegetables thrive well, and grapes of the finest quality are 
produced. For grazing purposes the wild grass, which 
grows in profusion, is peculiarly suitable, cattle and horses 
fattening quickly upon it. On the rushes of the bottom- 
lands stock are often kept the whole winter, and are found 
to fatten without other fodder. Nebraska is well adapted 
for raising sheep, and stock in the newly settled portions 
are herded without fencing, a matter of importance to 
settlers of limited means. There is no part of the United 
States where sheep are so healthy, or do so well ; and 
probably the country is unsurpassed by any in the world 
for wool growing. 

Its mineral resources are now being rapidly developed ; 
and its fertile valley lands are being turned to such an 
account, that the growth of the country is extremely 
promising. Iron and coal are believed to exist in abun- 
dance, and timber and stone for building purposes are in 
sufficient quantities. 



ARIZONA. 

This Territory was organized out of the western half 
of New Mexico in 1863. It is an elevated mountainous 
region, and excepting in the vicinity of its two principal 
rivers, the Colorado and the Gila, has few valleys in which 
cultivation is possible. The whole region above the low- 
land is of volcanic origin. Area, 120,912 square miles. 
Population in 1866 about 17,000. 

The locality of this broad area pre-supposes great 
metallic wealth. The general direction of the mountains 
and veins is north-west and south-east, and there are 



220 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OP AMERICA. 

numerous parallel ranges which form long valleys in the 
same direction. These and the broad level bottoms of the 
rivers may be easily and cheaply irrigated by artesian 
wells, under which treatment the soils return a large 
yield, producing, so far as tested, every variety of grain 
grass, vegetables, and fruits. While it has some barren 
and desolate country, no mineral region belonging to the 
United States, not excepting California, has in proportion 
to its extent more arable, pastural, and timber lands. In 
the southern portion there are many glades and vales and 
wide-spreading plains, suitable for cultivation ; and while 
the mining interests are the chief inducements to settlers, 
agriculture and stock-raising receive considerable attention. 
During 1865 nearly 100,000 bushels of grain were raised 
in the valleys. A number of clear streams are prolific in 
trout and other fresh- water fish. The climate, considered in 
either its relations to health and longevity or to agricultural 
and mining labour, is unrivalled by any in the world. 
Disease is almost unknown, and the warmest suns are less 
oppressive and enervating than those experienced in the 
Middle States. The proportion of fine weather is greater 
than in any other part of the world. 

The wealth of Arizona is bat just becoming known. 
The Territory is literally veined with the precious metals. 
The mines of gold, silver, and copper are extensive, well 
located, well defined, and, so far as tested, exceedingly 
rich. The copper mines on the Minibres River yield large 
quantities of ore, which contains 9-5 per cent, of copper. 
The Commissioner of the General Land Office, in his 
Report to Congress in December, 1863, says of this 
region, that it " is believed to be stocked with mineral 
wealth beyond that of any other Territory of equal extent 
in tke great plateau between the Rocky Mountains and the 
Sierra Nevada." 



KEW MEXICO. 221 

The population is of nearly the same character as that 
of New Mexico ; although rapid emigration from California 
and other "parts of the United States is rendering the 
Spanish element less prominent. Several of the Indian 
tribes are considerably advanced in the arts, and are 
among the best specimens of the aboriginal race to be 
found in America. The Apache Indians have been a 
serious hindrance to the growth and prosperity of 
Arizona, but energetic measures are being taken to subdue 
them. 

The chief towns are : — 

Pop. in 1860. Characteristics. 

Tucson Capital of Arizona, and seat of a thriving trade; 

station on the overland route between Texas 

and California. 
Tubac , Depot of a rich silver and copper mining region. 



NEW MEXICO. 

This Territory was early settled by Spaniards, and 
formed a Territory of the Republic of Mexico until 1848, 
when it was ceded to the United States, In 1850 it was 
defined by Act of Congress, and provision made for its 
organization. Present area, 121,201 square miles. Popu- 
lation in 1860 (including Arizona) 83,009. Capital, Santa 
Fe. 

Much of the eastern section is embraced in the Llano 
Estacado, a vast plain extending into Western Texas. 
The middle section comprises the valley of the Rio Grande. 
Although diversified by numerous ranges of mountains the 



222 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

Territory contains a good share of comparatively even 
table-land. The climate is generally mild and dry, par- 
ticularly in the south-east. It is surpassingly pure and 
healthy. A sultry day is rare, and the summer nights are 
cool and pleasant. The winters are mild with but little 
snow. Wheat is abundantly raised, and gramina grass is 
the main sustenance for stock ; the hay made from it is 
purchased by the Government at from $40 to $50 per 
ton. The lucern grows in abundance and is usually cut 
four or five times in the year. Cotton of good quality is 
grown in the southern part of the Territory, and the vine 
thrives most luxuriantly in the same region. Grapes can 
be bought for §3 per bushel. All the vegetables grow well 
except the potato. Red and green pepper, the great staple 
of the country, hangs from the trees in front of nearly every 
house. 

The civilized inhabitants are chiefly of Spanish-Mexican 
extraction, more or less intermixed with Indian stock. 
There are also numerous domesticated Indians in the 
Territory; besides about 20,000 who retain their tribal 
character, many of them warlike. Some of the tribes in 
the west are much superior to the average of North 
American savages. Agriculture receives considerable at- 
tention along the rivers, and stock-raising upon the neigh- 
bouring plains. The number of horses, mules, cattle, and 
sheep owned by some of the wealthy proprietors is im- 
mense. The country is rich in gold, silver, copper, and 
iron. Anthracite coal of an excellent quality is found near 
Santa Fe. The most noted manufacture is of gay-coloured 
woollen blankets, termed serapes, which are worn by all 
classes. The mechanical arts are very rude. An important 
caravan trade is maintained with the Western border States 
and with Mexico. 

The chief towns are : — 



INDIAN TERRITORY. 223 

Pop. in 1860. Characteristics. 

Santa Fe 5,000 Capital of the Territory; important over- 
land trade with the States and with 
Mexico. 

Albuquerque Chief town of a fine fruit-growing and 

grazing country. 

Taos Market of a highly-productive farming 

region. 

Mesilla 2,400 Noted station on the overland mail route 

between Texas and California. 



INDIAN TERRITORY. 

This Territory was originally part of Louisiana. It is 
not organized as the other Territories of the United States, 
but certain portions of it have been granted from time to 
time to the Indian tribes now inhabiting it. The area 
is 71,000 square miles. Approximate population, 75,000. 

The general appearance of the country is that of a vast 
plain, inclining gently towards the Mississippi River. The 
eastern portion alone is inhabited. It consists of a fertile 
prairie, interspersed with flat hills, with cotton woods, and 
willow woodlands bordering the streams. With these 
exceptions the country is bare of timber. 

The various Indian tribes occupy reservations or 
districts defined by treaty-boundaries. These tribes main- 
tain distinct and separate relations with the United States 
Government. Each has an Indian agent, or quasi consul, 
residing in their respective governments. These native 
governments are entirely distinct, each under its own con- 
stitution and laws. Their social and industrial progress 



224 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

has been considerable, printing-presses and newspapers 
have been introduced among them. They live chiefly in 
villages, have churches and schools, cultivate the land with 
the plough, raise cotton and corn, and are abundantly sup- 
plied with horses and cattle, and manufacture their own 
clothing. Their surplus productions are sent down the river 
to New Orleans. 



CHAPTER YI* 

POPULATION — NATURALIZATION— SUFFE AGE— PATENT 
LAWS— LEGAL INTEREST, AND USURY. 



POPULATION. 

The increase of the population of the United States has 
been rapid beyond any previous example in history At the 
Declaration of Independence (1776) the number of States 
was thirteen, with a population of about 3,000,000, and in 
1800, when several new States had been added to the Con- 
federacy, the population was little more than 5,000,000. 
During the next fifty years, there was a great advance. 
In 1850, when the number of States had increased to 
thirty-one, the population had reached 23,191,876, or 
3,000,000 more than that of the kingdom of Great Britain. 
A striking evidence of this rapid advancement is that the 
increase of the inhabitants during the last ten years is 
greater by more than 1,000,000 of souls than the whole 
population in 1 810, and nearly as great as the entire num- 
ber of people in 1820. At this ratio it doubles every 
twenty-five years, and it is therefore probable that at the 
close of the present century the United States will possess 
a population of not far from 100,000,000. It is also a fair 

15 



226 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

presumption that the rate of progress will continue till the 
country is occupied from the Atlantic to the Pacific. 

The following table shows the decennial increase to 
the period of the last census, 1860, with the ratio of in- 
crease : — 



1790.. 3,920,827 






1800.. 5,305,937.. Ratio 


of increase, 


35*02 per cent. 


1810.. 7,239,814.. 


5) 


3645 


1820.. 9,638,131.. 


J) 


3313 


1830.. 12,866,020.. 


?5 


33-40 


1840.. 17,069,453.. 


V 


32-67 „ 


1850.. 23,121,876.. 


5J 


33-97 .„ 


I860.. 31,445,080.. 


5) 


35-58 



This shows an average decennial increase of over 34 
per cent, in population through the seventy years, from 
the first to the last census. 

The two periods from 1800 to 1810, and from 1840 to 
1850, were marked by un addition of territory which 
materially increased the population. In the first mentioned 
period Louisiana was purchased from the French, and in 
the last mentioned, Texas, New Mexico, and California, 
were admitted into the Union. Each of these contributed 
largely to the population of the country. 

The actual and probable future progress of the popu- 
lation of the United States, as shown in the preceding 
statement, was thus commented on by President Lincoln 
in his last Message to Congress : — " It is seen that the 
ratio of increase at no one of these seven periods is either 
two per cent, below, or two per cent, above, the average, 
thus showing how inflexible, and, consequently, how re- 
liable, the law of increase in our case is. Assuming that 
it will continue, it gives the following results : — The popu- 
lation in 1870 will be 42,323,372; in 1880 it will be 



POPULATION. 



227 



56,966,216 ; in 1890 it will be 76,677,872 ; in 1900 it will 
be 103,208,415 ; in 1910 it will be 138,918,526 ; in 1920 
it will be 186,984,335; in 1930 it will be 251,680,914. 
These figures show that our country may be as populous 
as Europe now is, at some point between 1920 and 1930, 
say about 1925, our territory, at 73J persons to the square 
mile, being of the capacity to contain 217,186,000." 

The last returns show an excess of male population, pre- 
senting a marked difference as compared with other countries. 
While in the United States there is an excess of 730,000 
males in more than 31,000,000 of people, the females of 
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland oat- 
number the males some 877,000 in a population of little 
more than 29,000,000. 

The great excess of males in newly-settled territories 
illustrates the influence of emigration in effecting a dis- 
parity in the sexes. The males of California outnumber 
the females nearly 67,000, or about one-fifth of the popu- 
lation. In Illinois, the excess of males amounts to about 
92,000, or one-twelfth of the entire population. In Mas- 
sachusetts, the females outnumber the males some 37,600. 
Michigan shows near 40,000 excess of males; Texas, 
36,000 ; Wisconsin, 43,000. In Colorado, the males are 
as twenty to one female ; and, while in New York there is 
a small preponderance of females, the males are more nu- 
merous in Pennsylvania. 

The following table shows the population of the States 
and Territories to the square mile : — 



States. 
Alabama 


1850. 
... 1521.. 
... 4-02.. 


I860. 

1901 

8-34 

2 01 

98-45 

. 5293 

2-37 


States. 
Georgia 


1S50. 

.... 1781.. 


1S60. 
. 20-33 


Arkansas , .. 


Illinois 

Indiana 

Iowa 

Kansas 


.... 15-37.. 
.... 29-24.. 
.... 3-J9.. 


. 3090 


California 


p 


. 3994 


Connecticut .. 
Delaware 


... 79-33.. 
... 43-18.. 
... 1-48.. 


. 12-26 
1-36 


Florida 


Kentucky .... 


.... 2607.. 


. 3067 



228 



DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 



States. 1850. 1860. 

Louisiana 11*15... 15 25 

Maine 18*36... 19*78 

Maryland 52*41... 61*76 

Massachusetts ...127*50... 157*83 

Michigan 7*07... 13*32 

Minnesota 0*07... 208 

Mississippi 1286... 16*78 

Missouri 1012... 17*54 

New Hampshire... 34*26... 35*14 

New Jersey 58*84... 80*77 

New York 6590... 8256 

North Carolina ... 17*14... 19*57 

Ohio 49*55... 5854 

Oregon 0*13... 0*57 

Pennsylvania 50*25... 63*17 

Rhode Island 112*97.. .133*70 



States. 


1S50. 


I860. 


South Carolina 


.. 22*75.. 


28*98 


Tennessee 


.. 22*00.. 
.. 089.. 


24*34 


Texas 


. 2*55 


Vermont 


.. 30*76.. 


. 3085 


Virginia 


.. 23*17.. 


. 2602 


Wisconsin 


.. 566.. 

1850. 


. 14*39 


Territories. 


I860. 


Colorado 


— .. 


. 0*32 




— .. 


, 001 


Nebraska 


. 0*24 


Nevada 


— .. 


. 011 


New Mexico ... 


.. 0*25.. 


. 0*38 


Utah 


.. 008.. 


. 0*31 


Washington ... 


... 001.. 


. 0*06 


District. 


1850. 


I860. 


Columbia 


...861*45 1251*33 



The distribution of the general increase among the 
individual States of the Union is a subject of much in- 
terest. The older States may be said to be filled up as 
far as regards the resources adapted to a rural population 
in the present condition of agricultural science. The con- 
ditions of their increase undergo a change upon the 
general occupation of their area. Manufactures and com- 
merce then come in to supply the means of subsistence to 
an excess of inhabitants beyond what the ordinary culti- 
vation of the soil can sustain. This point in the progress 
of population has been reached, and perhaps passed, in 
most, if not all, of the New England States. But while 
statistical science may demonstrate, within narrow limits, 
the number of persons who may extract a subsistence 
from each square mile of arable land, it cannot compute 
with any reasonable approach to certainty, the additional 
population resident on the same soil which may obtain 
subsistence throuo*h the thousand branches of artificial 



POPULATION. 229 

industry which the demands of society and civilization 
have created. 

The three States of Massachusetts, Connecticut, and 
Rhode Island show an aggregate population of 1,412,851, 
and an area of 13,780 square miles, which gives 12,996 
inhabitants to the square mile. The stated point of 
density was passed by these three States more than fifty 
years ago, and yet they go on increasing in popula- 
tion with a rapidity as great as at any former period of 
their history, their increase since 1850 being about 20 
per cent. 

South Carolina has gained during the decade 35,201 
inhabitants of all conditions, equal to 5*27 per cent., and 
has made slower progress during the last term than any 
other Southern State, having advanced only from 27'28 to 
28*72 inhabitants to the square mile. Virginia is the next 
lowest in the rate of increase in the list of Southern States, 
the gain upon her aggregate population in 1850 was 
174,657, equal to 12*29 per cent. Among the States 
which have made the most rapid advance, we find that 
New York has increased from 3,097,394 to 3,880,735, ex- 
hibiting an augmentation of 783,341 inhabitants, being at 
the rate of 25*29 per cent. The gain of Pennyslvania has 
been in round numbers 595,000. Minnesota was chiefly 
unsettled territory in 1850, its large population as shown 
by the returns of 1860 is, therefore, nearly clear gain. The 
vast region of Texas ten years since was comparatively a 
wilderness ; it has now a population of over 600,000, and 
the rate of its increase is given as 184 per cent. 

Illinois presents the most wonderful example of great 
and continuous increase. In 1830 it contained 157,445 
inhabitants ; in 1840, 476,183 ; in 1850, 851,470 ; in 1860, 
1,711,951. The gain during the last decade being 860,481, 
or at the rate of 101 per cent. So large a population, 



230 



DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 



more than doubling itself in ten years, by the regular 
course of settlement and natural increase, is without a 
parallel. The growth of Indiana in population, though 
less extraordinary than that of her neighbouring State, 
has been most satisfactory, her gain during the decade 
having been 362,000, or more than 36 per cent, upon her 
number in 1850. Michigan, Wisconsin, and Iowa have 
fully participated in the surprising development of the 
north-west. The remarkable healthfulness of the climate 
of that region seems to more than compensate for its 
rigours, and the fertility of the new soil is an inducement 
to contend with and overcome the harshness of the 
elements. 

It is important to observe in the increase of the popu- 
lation the growing disparity between the white and 
coloured races. While the whites from 1850 to 1860 
gained 38 per cent., the slaves and free coloured increased 
somewhat less, 22 per cent., and the total increase of the 
coloured for seventy years was but 485 per cent., against 757 
per cent, for the whites. The following summary exhibits 



the numbers of the coloured race and 



rates of 



increase during the last seventy years. The rate of 
increase will be seen to have been gradually diminishing. 





1 






Free 






Free j Increase 


Slaves. 


Increase 


coloured, 


Increase 




coloured, iper cent. 




per cent. 


and 
Slaves. 


per cent. 


1790 


59,466 


697,897 




757,363 




1800 


108,395 


82-28 


893,041 


27-97 


1,001,436 


32-23 


1810 


186,446 


72-00 


1,191,364 


33-40 


1,337,810 


37-58 


1820 


233,524 


25-23 


1,538,038 


28-79 


1,771,562 


28-58 


1830 


319,599 


36-87 


2,009,043 


30-61 


2,328,642 


31-44 


1840 


386,303 


20-87 


2,487,455 


23-81 


2,873,758 


23-41 


1850 


434,419 


12-46 


3,204,313 


28-82 


3,638,762 


26-62 ; 


1860 


482,122 10-97 


3,953,587 


23-38 


4,435,709 


21-90 

1 



POPULATION. 231 

Of tlie occupations of the people of the United States 
the following is a brief summary. In I860 there were 
8,217,000 persons whose occupations were recorded ; of 
these more than 3,000,000 were occupied in the tillage of 
the soil, 2,423,895 being farmers, and 795,679 farm- 
labourers, and 85,561 planters. Of other occupations: — 

Merchants numbered 123,378 

Clerks „ 184,485 

Labourers , „ 969,301 

Servants „ 559,908 

Carpenters „ 242,958 

Shoemakers „ 164,608 

Miners „ 147,750 

Blacksmiths „ 112,357 

Teachers „ 110,469 

Tailors and Tailoresses . . „ 101,868 

Seamstresses „ 90,198 

Apprentices ,, 55,326 

Painters „ 51,695 

Masons „ 48,925 

Coopers „ 43,624 

Laundresses ,, 38,633 

Overseers „ 37,883 

Railway men „ 36,567 

Mantua makers „ 35,165 

Other trades in which the \ 

persons engaged number > „ 1,656,167 

under 35,000 ) 

The following are the numbers of those engaged in the 
professions : — 

Judges and Lawyers 33,980 

Physicians and Surgeons 55,055 

Clergymen 37,529 



282 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

Civil Engineers 27,437 

Public Officers 24,693 

Students 49,993 

Of those who were engaged in seafaring occupations : — 

Boatmen numbered 23,816 

Fishermen „ 21,905 

Mariners „ 67,360 

Ship carpenters „ 13,392 

The rapid increase which has been shown in the popu- 
lation of the United States is clue largely to emigration, 
which fact must not be lost sight of in comparing the 
increase with that of other countries. Had the increase of 
population since 1800 been left to its natural growth, it 
has been estimated that the whole white and coloured 
inhabitants would at this time have numbered but little 
more than 10,000,000. This being the case, two-thirds of the 
present population, or 21,000,000, are immigrants, or the 
descendants of immigrants. The tide of emigration from 
Europe to America began to set in strongly about the year 
1825. It took a further and sudden rise in 1832, and 
again in 1847. The first period corresponds with the 
opening out of the north-western States, and the oppor- 
tunity they afforded for obtaining land at nominal rates ; 
the latter with the failure of the potato crop in Ireland ; 
and for several succeeding years by the continental dis- 
turbances and the discovery of gold in California. 

Since 1820, the date of the first official return, the tide 
of emigration has been as follows : — 

In the ten years ending June 1, 1830 244,490 

In the ten years ending June 1, 1840 552,000 
In the ten years ending June 1, 1850 1,558,300 
In the ten years ending June 1, 1860 2,707,624 

Total.... 5,062,414 



POPULATION. 



233 



The proportion of the sexes making this total was as 
follows : — 

Males 2,977,603 

Females 2,035,536 

Sex not stated 49,275 

The following table shows the nationality of the 
emigrants that have arrived in the United States since 
1820:— 

1851 to 1860. 1820 to 1860. 

From England 247,125 .... 302,655 

„ Ireland 748,740 .... 967,366 

„ Scotland 38,331 .... 47,890 

„ Wales 6,319 .... 7,935 

Additional from Great Bri- 
tain and Ireland 297,578 .... 1,425,001 

2,750,847 
11,202 

1,486,044 
208,063 
117,142 
489,116 

5,062,414 



Total from United Kingdom 1,338,093 

Italy 7,012 

Germany 907,780 

France 76,358 

British America 59,301 

Other Countries 209,670 



Total Aliens 2,598,214 



The greater number of emigrants make New York 
their destination. The following table shows the number 
of immigrants who landed at that port from 1861 to 
1865 :— 

From Ireland. From Germany. 



1861 

1862 

1863 

1864 

1865 70,338 82,444 



27,754 27,159 

32,217 27,740 

92,681 38,236 



Total. 

65,529 

76,306 

155,223 



53,929 185,208 



195,075 



234 



DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 



The Irish are principally established in New York, 
Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Illinois, Ohio, and New 
Jersey ; the Germans in New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, 
Illinois, Wisconsin, and Missouri. 

A register of the occupations of the various immi- 
grants has not been carefully kept. Many of them were 
doubtless women and children, and a large proportion were 
without a settled occupation, and prepared to accept any 
that might offer. 

The occupations of 3,000,000 out of the 5,000,000 that 



Manufacturers .... 3,120 

Lawyers 2,676 

Artists 2,490 

Masons 2,310 

Engineers 2,016 

Teachers 1,528 

Bakers 1,272 

Butchers 945 

Musicians 729 

Printers 705 

Painters 647 

Millers 631 

Actors 588 



The Indians dwelling within the United States are fast 
disappearing. In 1850 there were 400,000 ; in 1856, 
350,000 ; and the census of 1860 shows only 295,400. 
This is a decrease of 50,000 every five years. The propor- 
tion of decrease is steadily augmented as the path of 
empire takes its way westward. Not many years will 
elapse, at this rate, before the Indian savage will exist only 
in history, the prose fiction of Cooper, and the poetry of 



ive arrived trom 


1820 to 1 


Labourers 


872,317 


Farmers 


. 764,837 


Mechanics . . . 


407,524 


Merchants . . . 


231,852 


Servants 


. 49,494 


Miners 


39,967 


Mariners 


29,484 


Weavers 


11,557 


Needlewomen . 


5,246 


Physicians . . . 


7,109 


Clergymen . . . 


4,326 


Clerks 


3,882 


Tailors 


3,634 


Shoemakers . . . 


3,474 



POPULATION. 235 

Longfellow. The principal Indian populations are distri- 
buted as follows : — New Mexico Territory, 55,100 ; Dacotah 
Territory, 39,664; Washington Territory, 31,000; Utah 
Territory, 20,000 ; Minnesota, 17,900 ; California, 13,140; 
Kansas, 8,189; Michigan, 7,777; Nevada Territory, 7,750; 
Oregon, 7,000. In the Indian Territory there are probably 
about 60,000 or 70,000. 

The origin of these Indian tribes has been a subject of 
controversy among learned men for centuries. Forged in- 
scriptions, stones bearing mysterious characters, Erse, 
Ancient Greek, Phoenician, Celtiberic, and Runic, as 
evidences of every possible and impossible theory of 
American origin, have each found people credulous enough 
to accept and defend their authenticity, even after the 
authors of them have abandoned them to their fate. All 
the older authorities, however, agreed in assigning to the 
aborigines a European or Asiatic origin ; though, within 
the last thirty years, some distinguished ethnologists 
and anthropologists in America and Europe, as Morton, 
Agassiz, Nott, Gliddon, and others, have maintained the 
probability of a distinct centre of creation or develop- 
ment for the American Indian. The Esquimaux tribes 
of British and Russian America, from their strong resem- 
blance to the nomadic races of North-Eastern Asia are, 
however, universally admitted to have migrated into the 
New World across Behring Strait. 

The aborigines, with some exceptions, are robust and 
well-proportioned, of a bronze or reddish complexion, have 
black hair, long, coarse, and shining; thin beard; low 
forehead, with features varied in profile, prominent, and 
strongly marked. Their virtues and vices are those of 
savages. They are hospitable, and capable of a savage 
magnanimity ; but are generally vindictive, cruel, and 
treacherous. Intellectually they are an inferior race, al- 



236 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

though some individuals have exhibited considerable 
natural and acquired talents. 



NATURALIZATION. 

It is the policy of the Government of the United States 
to encourage immigration, and for that end a naturaliza- 
tion law has been passed, affording great facilities to 
foreigners wishing to become American citizens. The 
qualifications for and mode of obtaining the privilege are 
substantially as follows : The applicant must have been 
a resident in the country for the terra of five years pre- 
ceding his admission, and one year within the particular 
State where the application is made, and must also have 
made a declaration of his intention to become a citizen two 
years previous to his application. These facts must be 
proven by at least one witness. The applicant must also 
show that he has behaved during his residence as a man 
of good moral character, and loyal to the Government of 
the United States. 

If an alien who has declared his intention die before he 
is naturalized, his widow and children may become citizens 
by simply taking the oath required of all naturalized 
citizens to support the constitution of the United States. 
In this case the period of residence of the widow and 
children is immaterial, nor is any distinction made between 
minor children and adults. 

In certain cases, aliens are disqualified from becoming 
citizens. No alien can be admitted while his country i3 






NATURALIZATION. 237 

at war with the United States, nor can one be admitted 
who was proscribed by any State previous to the year 1802. 
The residence required by the naturalization laws is a 
permanent abode in the country ; and when that is esta- 
blished or begun, it will not be affected by a temporary 
absence upon business or pleasure, if the intention to keep 
up the residence has always existed. 

Besides these general provisions, some of the individual 
States, chiefly the Western, have granted to unnaturalized 
aliens residing within their boundaries the right to hold 
real estate. 

In addition to the laws of the Federal Government 
relating to naturalization of foreigners, each State pos- 
sesses a code of laws determining the qualifications of 
citizenship and suffrage within its own limits. 

The following is an estimate of the number of natural- 
ized citizens residing in the United States, with the 
countries whence they have emigrated : — Ireland, 
1,611,000; German States, 1,198,000 ; England, 430,000 ; 
British America, 250,000; France, 109,000; Scotland, 
105,000 ; Switzerland, 54,000 ; Wales, 45,000 ; Norway, 
43,000 ; Holland, 28,000 ; Turkey, 28,000 ; Italy, 10,000 ; 
Denmark, 10,000; Belgium, 9,000; Poland, 7,000; 
Mexico, 7,000 ; the Antilles, 7,000 ; China, 5,000 ; Portugal, 
4,000; Prussia, 3,000; various countries, 204,000.—' 
Total, 4,136,000. 



238 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 



SUFFRAGE. 

The following are the laws of the several States on 
the right of suffrage. It will be seen that only six States 
— Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode 
Island, and Wisconsin — make no legal distinction among 
their citizens on the ground of colour. In New York, 
coloured citizens to be voters, must be owners of a free- 
hold worth $250. All ths other States deny the right of 
suffrage to the negro. Indians have a right of voting in 
the New England States, in Michigan, Wisconsin, Cali- 
fornia, and Minnesota. Chinamen are espressly excluded 
in California, Oregon, and Nevada. Indiana, Michigan, 
Wisconsin, Minnesota, Oregon, Kansas, and Illinois admit 
as voters those not yet citizens. Troops quartered in a 
State by the United States Government, do a jt thereby 
acquire the right to vote. All the States exclude idiots, 
insane, convicts, and persons of notoriously bad character 
from the franchise. 

Maine gives the right of suffrage to every male 
citizen of the United States of the age of 21 years and 
upward, excepting Indians not taxed, having resided in the 
State three months. 

New Hampshire. — Every male inhabitant of 21 years. 
Freehold property qualifications were formerly required 
for office-holders, but these are abolished. 

Vermont. — Every man 21 years of age, who has resided 
one year in the State, and who will take an oath to vote 
" so as in your conscience you shall judge will most con- 
duce to the best good " of the State. 

Massachusetts. — Every male citizen 21 years of age, 
who shall have paid any tax assessed within two years, or 






• SUFFRAGE. 239 

who shall be exempted from taxation. No person is entitled 
to a vote, or is eligible to office va this State, who is not able to 
read the Constitution in the English language, and write hi* 
name. But this provision does not apply to any person 
prevented by a physical disability from complying with its 
requisitions. 

Rhode Island. — 1. Every male citizen, of full age, one 
year in the State, six months in the town, owning real 
estate worth $134, or renting 37 per annum. 2. Every 
native male citizen of full age, two years in the State, six 
months in the town, who is duly registered, who has paid 
$1 tax, or done militia service within the year. 

Connecticut. — All persons, whether white or black, 
who were freemen at the adoption of her Constitution 
(1818), and subsequently every white male citizen of 
the United States, of full age, resident one year in the 
State, and six months in the town, bearing a good moral 
character, and able to read and write. 

Indiana. — Eveiy w r hite male citizen of the United 
States, of full age, and six months resident in the State, 
and every white male of foreign birth and full age, who 
has resided one year in the United States, six months 
preceding the election in the State, and who has declared 
his intention to become a citizen. No negro or mulatto 
has the right of suffrage. 

Illinois. — Every white male citizen of full age, residing 
one year in the State, and every white male inhabitant 
who was a resident of the State at the adoption of the 
Constitution. 

Missouri. — Every citizen who has resided in the State 
one year, and county three months. The Free State 
Constitution of 1865 excludes the blacks from voting. 

Michigan. — Every white male citizen, resident three 
months in the State, and six days in the town; every 



210 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

white male inhabitant residing in the State June 24th, 
1835 ; every white male inhabitant residing in the State 
January 1st, 1850, who has declared his intention, etc., oi 
who has resided two and a-half years in the State, and 
declared his intention, and every civilized male Indian 
inhabitant, not a member of any tribe. 

Iowa. — Every white male citizen of the United States, 
of full age, resident six months in the State, sixty days in 
the county. 

New York. — Every male citizen of full age, who shall 
have been ten days a citizen, resident one year in the State, 
four months in the county, and thirty days in the district. 
But no man of colour shall vote unless he has been three 
years a citizen of the State, and for one year the owner of 
a freehold worth $250, over incumbrances, on which he 
shall have paid a tax, and he is to be subject to no direct 
tax unless he owns such freehold. Laws have been passed, 
excluding from the suffrage persons convicted of bribery, 
larceny, or infamous crime, also persons betting on the 
election. 

New Jersey. — Every white male citizen of the United 
States, of full age, residing one year in the State and five 
months in the county. 

Pennsylvania. — Every white freeman, of full age, who 
has resided one year in the State and ten days in the elec- 
tion district, and has within two years paid a tax, except 
that a once qualified voter returning into the State after 
an absence which disqualifies him from voting, regains his 
vote by a six months' residence, and except that white 
free citizens under 22 and over 21 vote without paying- 
taxes. 

Ohio. — Every white male citizen of the United States, 
of full age, resident one year in the State. But the courts 
of Ohio having held that every person of one-half white 



SUFFRAGE. 241 

blood is a white male citizen within the Constitution, and 
that the burden of proof is with the challenging party, to 
show that the person is more than half black, negroes are 
often allowed to vote. 

Wisconsin. — Every male person of full age, resident 
one year in the State, and being either : a citizen of the 
United States ; an alien who has declared his intention ; a 
person of Indian blood who has been declared a citizen by 
Act of Congress ; civilized persons of Indian descent not 
members of any tribe. By a recent decision, negroes are 
admitted to vote on equal terms with white citizens. 

California.— Every white male citizen of the United 
States (or of Mexico who shall have elected to become a 
citizen of the United States under treaty of Queretaro) 
of fall age, resident six months in the State and thirty 
days in the district. 

Minnesota. — Every male person of full age, resident 
one year in the United States and four months in the 
State, and being either : a white citizen of the United 
States ; a white alien who has declared his intention ; 
civilized persons of mixed white and Indian blood, or 
civilized Indians certified by a district court to be fit for 
citizenship. 

Oregon. — Every white male citizen of full age, six 
months a resident in the State, and every white male alien, 
of full age, resident in the United States one year, who 
has declared his intention, may vote, but "no negro, 
Chinaman, or mulatto." 

Kansas. — Every white male adult resident six months 
in the State and thirty days in the town, who is either a 
citizen or has declared his intention of becoming one. 

West Virginia. — Every white male citizen 21 years 
of age, resident one year in the State and thirty days in 
the county. 

16 



242 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

Nevada. — The law on the right of suffrage is similar to 
that of Oregon. 

Colorado. — Every white male citizen of full age. 

Delaware. — Every free white male citizen of the age 
of 22 years, who has resided one year in the State and 
the last month thereof in the county, and who has within 
two years paid a county tax, assessed at least six months 
before the election. Every free white male citizen over 
21 and under 22 may vote without paying any tax. The 
legislature may impose forfeiture of the right of suffrage 
as a punishment for crime. 

Maryland. — Every free white male person of 21 years 
of age, or upward, who has resided one year in the State, 
six months in the county, and is a citizen of the United 
States. 

Virginia. — Every white male citizen of 21 years, who 
has resided two years in the State and twelve months in 
the county, except non-commissioned officers, soldiers, sea- 
men, or marines in the United States service, or persons 
convicted of bribery, or some infamous offence. 

North Carolina. — All freemen 21 years of age, living 
twelve months in the State, and owning a freehold of fifty 
acres for six months. No free negroes, free mulattoes, or 
free persons of mixed blood, descended from negro ances- 
tors to the fourth generation inclusive, can vote for mem- 
bers of the Senate or House of Commons. 

South Carolina gives the right of voting to every 
person who has the following qualifications : — He shall be 
a free white man who has attained the age of 21 years, 
and is not a non-commissioned officer or private soldier in 
the army, nor a seaman or a marine of the navy of the 
United States. He shall, for two years preceding the 
election, have been a citizen of the State, or, for the same 
period, an emigrant from Europe, who has declared his 



SUFFRAGE . 243 

intention to become a citizen of the United States. He 
shall have resided in the State at least- two years preceding 
the election, and for the last six months in the district. 

Georgia. — Every free white male citizen of the State, 
who shall have attained the age of 21 years, and shall have 
paid all taxes which may have been required of him, and 
shall have resided six months in the county and two years 
in the State. 

Kentucky. — Every white male citizen of the age of 21 
years, who has resided two years in the State, one year in 
the county, and sixty days in the precinct. 

Tennessee. — Every free white man of the age of 21 
years, being a citizen of the United States, and for six 
months a resident of the county. All persons of colour 
who are competent witnesses in a court of justice against 
a white man may also vote. 

Louisiana. — Every free white male who has attained 
the age of 21 years, and has resided twelve months in the 
State, and six months in the parish. 

Mississippi. — Every free white male person of 21 years 
of age, who is a citizen of the United States, who has 
resided one year in the State and four months in the 
county. 

Alabama is the same as Mississippi, with the substitu- 
tion of three months' residence in the county. 

Florida. — Every free white male person of 21 years of 
age, a citizen of the United States, two years a resident of 
the State and six months of the county, duly enrolled in 
the militia, and duly registered. 

Arkansas. — Every free white male citizen of the United 
States, 21 years of age, who shall have resided six months 
in the State. 

Texas. — Every free male person who shall have attained 
the age of 21 years, a citizen of the United States, one 



244 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

year a resident of the State, and six months of the county, 
Indians not taxed, Africans and the descendants of Africans, 
excepted. 



THE PATENT LAWS. 

The subject of patents for inventions received the 
early attention of Congress after the adoption of the 
Federal Constitution, and in 1791 was passed the first act 
" to promote the progress of the useful arts." This, and 
all subsequent acts relating to patents, has recognized the 
natural rights of the inventor, and aimed to reconcile 
private rights with the welfare of the State, which recon- 
ciliation is the perfection of all legislation. 

Letters patent are granted for any new and useful 
invention or discovery to the actual first inventor, his 
assignees, executors, or administrators. They are granted 
alike to citizens and aliens for the term of seventeen years 
from the elate of issue. An invention, on which a foreign 
patent has been obtained is patentable in the United States 
at any subsequent period, provided the same has not been 
generally introduced into that country before the applica- 
tion ; but such patent will expire at the end of seventeen 
years from the date of the foreign patent. There is a 
strict examination to determine the utility and novelty of 
the invention. 

No patents of importation nor certificates of addition 
are allowed. Patents of designs and caveats — a kind of 
provisional protection — are granted to citizens, but not in 
any case to aliens residing abroad. Patents may be 
reissued at any period to remedy defects in the claims, 
or other parts of the specification. No extensions are 



THE PATENT LAWS. 245 

allowed on patents secured under the act of 1861 ; and 
alien patentees must carry their invention into practice 
in the United States within eighteen months from the date 
of issue. 

The inventor, by himself or authorized agent, must 
present a written petition to the commissioner of patents, 
accompanied by a specification and oath, with two sets of 
drawings, and also a model, where the nature of the 
invention admits of such an illustration. When the. 
indention is a composition of matter, a sample of the com- 
position and of each of the ingredients must be furnished. 
The size and character of the drawings and model are 
prescribed by the rules of the Patent Office. The specifi- 
cation and drawings must all be signed by the inventor, 
his executors, or administrators, and such signature attested 
by two witnesses. 

The Government fee for each patent for the entire term 
under the act of 1861 is $35, and the agency charges vary, 
according to the nature of the invention, and the difficulty 
in obtaining the allowance of the patents ; but it may be 
safely said that these patents, as a rule, are cheaper than 
those of European States, costing for seventeen years 
hardly one- tenth as much as a patent in the United 
Kingdom for a shorter period, while " patent rights" in the 
United States are far more saleable and valuable. 

During the year 1865 there were received at the Patent 
Office over 12,000 applications for patents ; and 6616 
patents were issued, and 1538 caveats were filed. The 
number of applications exceeded by nearly forty per cent, 
the number filed in any preceding year, and the number of 
caveats filed exceeded those of any previous year by more 
than seventy-five per cent. The number of patents issued 
exceeded those issued in 1864, the highest previous year, 
by m ore than thirty per cent. 



246 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

The United States Patent Office at Washington contains 
nearly 50,000 models pertaining to patent inventions, all of 
which are open to pnblic inspection and examination, 
together with the drawings and specifications. 



MARRIAGE LAWS. 

In the United States marriage is, by law, only a civil 
contract ; magistrates, equally with clergymen, have a 
right to solemnize it ; but it is the prevailing practice, as 
in all Protestant countries, to have it performed by a 
clergyman, with religious observances. In all the States 
certain marriages are prohibited, and would of course be 
void — as those between parties within a certain near lineal 
consanguinity, and those between parties within the age of 
consent, which, for the most part, is fixed at fifteen for the 
man and ten for the woman. In many of the States there 
is now a provision that a marriage duly solemnized to all 
appearance shall not be void through the non-observance 
of any formality, if it be consummated with a full belief 
on the part of either or both of the parties that they were 
lawfully married. Contracts to marry at a future time are 
recognized by law, and actions for the breach of them are 
common. The rules of law relating to these are peculiar. 
The promises must be reciprocal, and the woman is bound 
to them as much as the man. The precise words, time, and 
manner, often beyond proof, are not indispensable, for 
direct and precise testimony is not demanded. This con- 
tract, like every other, may be made on condition ; and if 
the condition be reasonable, the law will respect it. 
Actions for breach of promise do not survive either the 



MAERIAGE LAWS. 247 

promisor or promisee. Regulations have been made by law 
in most of the States for the due solemnization and proof of 
marriage ; but when such provisions have not been made, 
the contract is under the government of the English 
common law. 

Second marriages, where the former husband or wife 
are living, are null and void, with the following excep- 
tions : — Absence of the first husband or wife for five years, 
without the residence being known to the party marrying 
a second time ; or deliberate absence from the United 
States for a like period ; or divorce, except for cause of 
adultery, in the party marrying a second time. 

The law of divorce is different in the various States. 
In all adultery of either party is a sufficient cause. In 
New York imprisonment for life is considered as a civil 
death, and the husband or wife of such imprisoned person 
is at liberty to marry again. Imprisonment for a less term 
is held merely to suspend civil rights for a time, and does 
not abrogate them. In Massachusetts, Maine, and New 
Jersey, wilful desertion for five years — in Indiana and 
Missouri desertion for two years, cruel and inhuman 
treatment by the husband, or his habitual drunkenness 
for the same period — in Vermont imprisonment in State 
prison for three years — in Ohio wilful desertion or 
habitual drunkenness for three years — in Pennsylvania 
wilful desertion for two years — in Connecticut wilful 
desertion for three years, or seven years' absence without 
being heard of, also constitute sufficient grounds for 
divorce. 



248 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 



TEMPERANCE LAWS. 

The laws at present in operation throughout the 
United States, designed to abate intemperance and the 
numerous social evils flowing from that vice, are divisible 
into three classes — those that forbid the sale of intoxicating 
liquors on the Sabbath ; those that interfere more or less 
stringently with the retail sale of intoxicating liquors ; 
and those that are framed on the model of the celebrated 
Maine Law of 1851, and forbid all sale of such liquors 
other than for medicinal, sacramental, and scientific pur- 
poses. A Sunday law prevails throughout the Union 
generally; strict prohibitory laws are in force in Iowa, 
Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan ; complete prohibitory 
laws (collectively and popularly known as the " Maine 
Law ") are in operation in all the New England States. 
In various States, laws are in force making sales to 
drunkards and minors penal, and allowing widows, 
orphans, and other relatives, to claim damages from liquor- 
sellers who can be proved to have sold drink to men 
before they met with death in consequence of their in- 
temperance. In no State is the liquor traffic free — i.e., 
carried on without a licence; and in several States the 
Board of Commissioners who give or refuse licences are 
elected by the ratepayers of districts. 



CHAPTER YIL 

RAILWAYS— CANALS— TELEGKAPHS. 



RAILWAYS. 

The rapid growth of the railway system of the United 
States is perhaps one of the most notable features of the 
material progress of the country. Railways in America 
may be said to be almost cotemporaneous with those of 
England. The opening of the Liverpool and Manchester 
Railway in the" latter country proved, in an unexpected 
and triumphant manner, the adaptability of the powers 
of steam to rapid locomotion, and in a few years after its 
development in England the same system was in practical 
operation in the United States. 

When the first sod of a portion of the Baltimore and 
Ohio Railway was cut, on the 4th of July, 1828, iron 
tracks on which vehicles were drawn by horse power had 
been in use some years at many of the coal mines and 
granite quarries of Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, and 
on its completion in 1829 it was also worked partly by 
horse power, the only locomotive being a small one built 
at Baltimore. This engine is still in existence, and may 
be seen in the company's workshops, where it is preserved 
as an interesting relic. In 1830, the Hudson and Mohawk 
Railway was commenced; the following year saw it in 
operation between Albany and Schenectady ; and in 



250 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

1832 a locomotive travelled over it at the rate of thirty 
miles an hour, with a load of eight tons. During the 
same year sixty-seven miles of railway were in operation 
in Pennsylvania, and important lines were begun in 
Massachusetts and New Jersey ; and from this time con- 
siderable energy was manifested in railway enterprises. 
Their rapid progress is illustrated by the following table, 
which shows the number of miles in operation from 1840 
to 1864 :— 



YEAE. MILES. 

1838 1,843 

1840 2,167 

1842 3,863 

1844 4,285 

1846 4,828 

1848 6,491 

1850 8,827 



TEAR. MILES. 

1852 12,841 

1854 19,195 

1856 23,724 

1858 27,158 

1860 31,185 

1864 35,000 



These 35,000 miles have been laid at an expenditure 
of $1,264,336,000 (£252,867,200). 

Up to the commencement of the last decade, the rail- 
ways sustained only an unimportant relation to the in- 
ternal commerce of the country. Nearly all the lines then 
in operation were local or isolated works, and neither in 
extent nor design had begun to be formed into that vast 
and connected system which now covers almost every 
portion of the Union, enabling each work to contribute to 
the traffic and value of all. Though the rapidity with 
which the railways have been constructed has been so 
great, and the mileage is so large, the requirements of the 
country are by no means met. In many parts the existing 
lines are quite insufficient to convey the traffic ; and in the 
Western States the produce has increased faster than the 
means of transport. 



KAIL WAYS. 251 

The following table shows the lengths and cost of some 
of the principal lines in operation in 1866 : — 

MILES. COST. 

Illinois Central 708 $28,610,000 

New York Central (Branches) 555 32,740,000 

Chicago, N. W., Galena, and Elgin ... 535 28,000,000 

Erie and Branches 528 39,328,000 

Mobile and Ohio 482 14,484,000 

Pittsburg, Fort W., and Chicago 467 18,891,000 

Chicago, Peora, and Quincy 400 39,2 70,000 

Baltimore and Ohio 386 24,919,000 

Pennsylvania, Cent., Colum. Div 359 26,058,000 

Atlantic and Great W. (Branches) ... 507 47,000,000 

Memphis and Charleston 290 67,450,000 

Louisville and Chicago 288 7,000,000 

Philadelphia and Erie 288 16,500,000 

Michigan Central 284 13,805,000 

Mobile and Ohio, from Alabama 282 8,475,000 

Marietta and Cincinnati 272 10,722,000 

Milwaukee, St. Paul, and Horicon 261 8,144,000 

Louisville and Nashville '. 253 9, 730,000 

Philadelphia and Bead (Branches) ... 154 24,735,000 

Philadelphia, Wilni'n, and Baltimore 98 8,575,000 

Philadelphia and Baltimore Central ... 365 930,000 

Philadelphia and Trenton 282 608,000 

Enumerating all the important roads and their branches, 
there were in the United States in September, 1865, 593 
companies, owning one or more lines of railway, of which 
Pennsylvania possessed 85 ; Massachusetts, 46 ; New York, 
44 ; Ohio, 29 ; Illinois, 28 ; New Jersey, 26 ; Indiana, 23 ; 
and the Southern States, 101. According to the return 
of 1865 Pennsylvania is foremost of all the States in the 
length of railways completed. 



252 



DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 



The following is a table of the number of miles of rail- 
ways in each State in 1866, with the cost of construction : — 



States. 



, Miles com. 
| pleted. 



Completed 
and con- 
structing. 



3. 

4. 

5. 

6. 

7. 

8. 

9. 
10. 
11. 
12. 
13. 
14. 
15. 
16. 
17. 
18. 
19. 
20. 
21. 
22. 
23. 
24. 
25. 
26. 
27. 
28. 
29. 
30. 
31. 
32, 
33, 
34. 
35. 
36, 



Maine 

New Hampshire 

Y ermont 

Massachusetts 

Rhode Island 

Connecticut 

New York 

New Jersey 

Pennsylvania 

Delaware 

Maryland and Dis. of Col. 

Virginia 

West Virginia 

North Carolina 

South Carolina 

Georgia 

Florida 

Alabama 

Mississippi 

Louisiana „ 

Texas 

Arkansas 

Tennessee 

Kentucky 

Ohio 

Michigan 

Indiana 

Illinois ...,„, 

Wisconsin 

Minnesota 

Iowa 

Missouri 

California 

Oregon 

Kansas 

Nebraska Territory 



509 
659 
596 

1,309 
119 
637 

2,928 
868 

3,797 
126 
486 

1,378 
361 
977 
988 

1,421 
401 
891 
867 
335 
451 
. 38 

1,317 
613 

3,392 
949 

2,196 

3,171 

1,044 
227 
946 
924 
262 
19 
122 
53 



Total United States 35,487 



640 

659 

596 
1,353 

151 

717 
3,278 

887 
4,364 

172 

727 
2.054 

361 
1,352 
1,072 
1,635 

586 
1,434 
1,072 

838 
2,787 

701 
1,392 

940 
3,999 
1,734 
2,466 
3,759 
1,357 
1,608 
2,023 
1,572 
1,285 
19 

480 
1,200 

51,270 



Total Cost. 



§18,134,925 
22,342,947 
24,773,417 
59,956,462 
4,941,240 
23,900,001 
145,240,291 
49,4S3,532 
195,982,888 
4,921,709 
28,558,124 
45,146,843 
24,370,667 
19,308,018 
22,423,690 
29,169,513 
8,628,000 
21,351,102 
24,112,507 
13,627,664 
16,509,772 
3,800,500 
33,977,478 
21,639,876 
131,872,472 
39,648,812 
72,377,489 
127,798,081 
39,580,741 
8,250,000 
36,142,928 
50,232,482 
13,800,000 
500,000 
3,500,000 
3,000,000 



$1,388,554,968 



In comparing the length of the railway lines in the United 



EAILWAYS. 253 

States with those of other countries, it must be borne in 
mind that they consist generally of only a single track, 
and that a greater portion of the English lines are laid 
with donble tracks, though the estimate of mileage it takes 
the same as for a single line. 

In the structure of the American lines principles have 
been adopted by which they are constructed with great 
economy. The difficult and expensive condition of exclud- 
ing all curves but those of large radius, and all gradients 
exceeding a certain limit of steepness is not insisted on. 
Curves of 500 feet radius, and even less, are frequent, and 
acclivities rising at the rate of 1 foot in 100 are considered 
a moderate ascent ; many lines are laid down with gradients 
varyiug from 1 in 100 to 1 in 75, and these are worked 
with facility by locomotives, without the expedient of 
assistant or stationary engines. The cost of earthwork, 
bridges, and viaducts, even in parts of the country where 
the character of the surface is least favourable, is conse- 
quently much reduced. The construction as well as the 
materials are also very economical. Instead of the 
stringers used on English lines, transverse wooden " cross- 
ties " or sleepers are laid about two feet apart, upon which 
the ordinary " T rails" are placed. The bridges are 
generally built of wood, and there is but little tunnelling. 
The lines are not always fenced, especially in the sparsely 
settled districts, and the cattle which in most parts roam 
at large, are scared off by the steam whistle, or where 
this fails to serve the purpose, the "cow-catcher," a 
wedge-shaped iron framework which is a universal appen- 
dage at the front of an American engine, usually serves to 
throw the animal from the track without damage to the 
train ; the animals being usually killed by the collision 
where the speed cannot be slacked in time. Owing to the 
cheap scale on which American railways are constructed, 



254 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

the inexpensive stations or depots, the cheapness of lands 
through which they pass, and other circumstances, the 
average cost per mile is not half so much as in Europe, 
the average estimate being only $34,307 (£7000). On the 
prairies the cost is only about §20,000 (£4000) per mile. 
This difference being due to the fact that the cost of 
grading is very light, the track often stretching away for 
miles over a dead level. The appearance of a long train 
of " cars " at full speed on one of these level prairie lines, 
when viewed at a distance of several miles, is most im- 
pressive as it winds smoothly along between sky and earth. 
The trains are not remarkable for their high rate of speed ; 
the mode of construction, as well as the general condi- 
tion of the track, limits the average speed to about 18 to 
20 miles an hour, and express trains do not usually ex- 
ceed 30 miles per hour. Excursion trains, now so promi- 
nent and agreeable a feature of European railways, are 
unknown in the United States. When railways strike the 
course of rivers, such as the Hudson, Delaware, or Sus- 
quehannah — too wide to be crossed by bridges — the traffic 
is carried on by steam-ferries. It is often so arranged that 
the time of crossing corresponds with the hour for meals ; 
while the boat is crossing the spacious river, the passengers 
are supplied with their breakfast, dinner, or supper, as the 
case may be. On arriving at the opposite bank they 
resume their places in the railway carriages, and the train 
proceeds. 

Kailway travelling in America has a peculiar charm in 
the variety of scenery traversed by some of the longer 
lines. Often a few hours suffice to transport one from the 
busy hum of a great metropolis into the deep solitude of 
the primeval forest or prairie. A peculiarity in the 
American trains is the construction of the passenger 
carriages, or cars, which are much longer than the English, 



EAILWATS. 255 

and are entered by a door at each end. There are two rows 
of seats, with a narrow passage between. The whole train 
may be traversed without descending to the ground, and 
the conductor passes from one end to the other collecting 
his tickets, while the train is in motion. The cars are 
capable of containing each about sixty passengers. With 
the exception of the emigrant trains, there are generally no 
distinctions of first, second, and third class, as in England. 
The fares on the American lines are on an average about 
equal to the second-class fares in England. There is at- 
tached to each train a smoking car, and often a sleeping 
car, in which passengers are for a small extra charge pro- 
vided with a comfortable night's lodging. Most cars 
have a small apartment at one end for the accommodation 
of ladies and children. Stoves are also provided in winter. 
" An American conductor is half clerk, half guard, with a 
dash of the gentleman ; and, when off duty, passes for a 
respectable personage at any of the hotels, and may be 
seen in the best company, with a fashionable wife. He 
must needs be a person of some integrity, for the check 
upon his transactions is infinitesimally small. The sud- 
denness of his appearance, when the train gets under way, 
is very marvellous. Hardly have the wheels made a revo- 
lution when the door at one end of the car is opened, and 
the conductor, like a wandering spirit, begins his rounds. 
Just before coming to a station, he takes a deliberate 
survey of his customers, receiving checks from those who 
are about to depart." The conductor can always and in- 
stantly communicate with the engine-driver, by means of 
a cord which runs along the ceiling of the cars, and is 
arranged and connected before starting the train. 

The arrangements connected with the baggage are excel- 
lent. Each train has a "baggage car" attached, superin- 
tended by a " baggage master." This official, on receiving 



256 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OP AMERICA. 

a trunk or portmanteau, attaches to it a brass plate upon 
which a number is stamped, and gives to the owner a dupli- 
cate plate which answers for a receipt ; before arriving at 
any important point an omnibus agent passes through the 
train, and upon the delivery of the check he gives the 
passenger another, called an omnibus check, which — with- 
out further attention on the part of the passenger — secures 
the safe delivery of his baggage at any hotel or private 
house at which he signifies his intention of stopping. 
While the train is in motion boys with papers and books, and 
vendors of lemonade and fruit, perambulate the cars. The 
various railway lines have in most instances made mutual 
arrangements which enable the traveller to avoid all 
trouble concerning his baggage, and by procuring a 
" through check " he may travel from one end of the 
Union to the other without once seeing his baggage during 
the journey. In many of the principal American cities, the 
railways are continued to the centre of the town, following 
the windings of the streets. The locomotive station is, 
however, generally in the suburbs. Having arrived there, 
the engine is detached from the train, and horses draw the 
cars to the passenger depot, usually established in some 
central situation. Four horses are attached to each of 
these long carriages. The sharp curves at the corners of 
the streets are turned by causing the outer wheels of the 
trucks to run upon their flanges, so that they become 
while passing round the curve virtually larger wheels 
than the inner ones. 

Tramways or street railroads have been introduced in 
all the principal American cities, and in many of them 
have as effectually superseded the omnibus as railways 
have the old stage coach. 

In New York 307 miles are in operation. 

„ Brooklyn 101 „ „ „ 



THE PACIFIC RAILWAYS. 257 

In Boston 124 miles are in operation. 

„ Philadelphia 183 „ 
„ Baltimore 35 „ 
„ Chicago 40 „ 



5) 


J) 


5) 


5) 


J> 


5> 



THE PACIFIC RAILWAYS. 

The demand for greater facility of commnnication with 
the Pacific region has led to a series of surveys for the 
purpose of demonstrating the most practicable route for a 
railway to the Pacific. The time is not far distant when 
much of the trade between Western Europe and Eastern 
Asia will be carried across the American continent, and the 
dream of the early explorers realized. " America," says 
Colonel Synge, R.E., " is geographically a connecting link 
between the continents of Europe and Asia, and not a 
monstrous barrier between them. It lies in the track of 
their nearest and best connection ; and this fact needs only 
to be recognized to render it in practice what it unques- 
tionably is in the essential points of distance and dura- 
tion." Shanghai is becoming most rapidly the great com- 
mercial emporium of China. It is situated at the mouth 
of the Yang-tse-Kiang, the largest river of Asia, navigable 
for 1500 miles. Hong Kong, the centre of the English 
trade in China, is 960 miles farther south. With a railway 
across the American continent the distance from England 
to Hong Kong could be made in about thirty-three days. 

Surveys were made for a line to the Pacific in 1850, 
but the country at that time was not prepared to engage 
in the undertaking. Several lines are now, however, in 
coarse of construction. Silas Seymour, Esq., Consulting 

17 



258 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

Engineer of the Union Pacific Railway, in a communica- 
tion to the " American Railroad Journal," of Feb. 24th, 
1866, thus fully describes and explains the various organi- 
zations and projects known as Pacific Railways, which are 
no less than seven in number. 

First. The Pacific Railway of Missouri (a State enter- 
prise), extending from the city of St. Louis to the east line 
of Kansas, at or near Kansas City, a distance of 283 miles. 
This road is now completed and in operation. 

Second. The Union Pacific Railway, Eastern Division, 
extending from the western terminus of the Missouri Pacific 
Railway, at the eastern boundary of Kansas, to an inter- 
section with the Union Pacific Railway, " at a point on 
the 100th meridian of longitude west from Greenwich, 
between the south margin of the Republican River and 
the north margin of the valley of the Platte River, in 
the Territory of Nebraska, at a point to be fixed by the 
President of the United States after actual surveys." The 
total distance is about 360 miles. This is also a State 
undertaking, and was formerly known as the "Leaven- 
worth, Pawnee, and Western Railway Company of Kan- 
sas ; " but the Company, in 1863, assumed the name of 
" Union Pacific Railway, Eastern Division," by which title 
it has since been recognized. This company receives the 
same amount and kind of aid from the general government 
as the Union Pacific Railway, which, to avoid repetition, 
will be described in connection with that road. The laying 
of track was commenced in 1863, since which 62 miles 
have been completed, and the road is now open for public 
use to Topeka, the capital of Kansas. 

Third. The Union Pacific Railway, extending from 
the western boundary of the State of Iowa, at Omaha, "to 
the western boundary of the Territory of Nevada, there to 
connect with the line of the Central Pacific Railway Com- 



THE PACIFIC BAILWAYS. 259 

pany of California," a distance of about 1600 miles. The 
capital stock is SI 00,000,000. This organization is entirely 
the creation of Congress, and being located within the 
Territories, is not subject to any State or municipal regula- 
tions. To aid in its construction the Government grants 
every alternate section of public land, designated by odd 
numbers, to the amount of ten alternate sections per mile, 
on each side of said railway on the line thereof, and within 
the limits of twenty miles on each side of said road. To 
aid further in the construction of this road the law provides 
that as certain portions therein specified are fully com- 
pleted and equipped, the Secretary of the Treasury shall 
issue to said Company bonds of the United States, as 
follows : " For '300 miles of said road, most mountainous 
and difficult of construction," $48,000 per mile ; " and for 
certain other sections amounting to 300 miles," §32,000 
per mile ; and for the entire remainder of the road, $16,000 
per mile. The laying of track was commenced in July, 
1865, and 40 miles were completed up to Feb. 1S66. Since 
that time the track has been extended to Fremont, 50 
miles from Omaha. The grading of the first 110 miles is 
now completed, and arrangements are perfected for opening 
100 miles to the public before the 4th of July, 1866, 

Fourth. The Central Pacific Railway of California, ex- 
tending " from the Pacific coast, at or near San Francisco, 
or the navigable waters of the Sacramento River, to the 
eastern boundary of California." This is a State organiza- 
tion, but it receives from the general government the same 
aid as the Union Pacific Railway. This company has 
transferred to the Western Pacific Railway Company the 
right to construct the road to the Pacific coast, and is now 
engaged in the construction of the line easterly from 
Sacramento to the State line, a distance of 164 miles. The 
laying of track was commenced in June, 1864, and 56 



260 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

miles of road have since been completed and accepted by the 
Government. Seventeen additional miles of grading are now 
completed, and the remainder of the grading is well under 
way. The line, as established by the Company, intersects 
the easterly boundary of California in the valley of the 
Truckee River. 

Fifth. The Western Pacific Railway of California, ex- 
tending from Sacramento to San Francisco, by way of San 
Jose, a distance of 170 miles. This is also a State organi- 
zation, and receives through an assignment from the 
Central Pacific Railway Company (which has received the 
sanction of Congress) the same aid from the Government 
as the Union and Central Pacific Companies. The line 
from San Jose to San Francisco, a distance of 50 miles, is 
completed. From San Jose eastward, about 20 miles is 
completed, and the iron for the remainder of the distance 
to Sacramento is already purchased and going forward. 
The grading is entirely out of the way. 

Sixth. The Southern Pacific Railway of California, ex- 
tending from the bay of San Francisco to the port of San 
Diego, and thence to the east line of the State of California, 
a distance of about 420 miles. Capital, $30,000,000. This 
is a State organization, and receives no aid from the 
general government. 

Seventh. The Northern Pacific Railway Company, 
extending from the head of Lake Superior to Puget Sound, 
" with a branch via the valley of the Columbia River to a 
point at or near Portland, in the State of Oregon." Capital 
stock $100,000,000. This company was chartered by Con- 
gress in 1864. The company receives from the Govern- 
ment " every alternate section of public land, not mineral, 
designated by odd numbers, to the amount of twenty alter- 
nate sections per mile on each side of said railway line, as 
said company may adopt, through the Territories of the 



CANALS. 261 

United States ; and ten alternate sections per mile on each 
side of said railway whenever it passes through any State." 
In addition to the above may be mentioned the old 
organization known as the Southern Pacific Railway, 
which was intended to run from Memphis, Tennessee, to 
San Diego, California. 






CANALS. 

Soon after the acknowledgment of the independence ot 
the American colonies by England in 1733, several com- 
panies were formed in New York and Pennsylvania, for the 
purpose of constructing a system of canals. These enter- 
prises were accordingly commenced, but on a scale too 
limited for the attainment of the desired objects. As the 
United States advanced in commercial prosperity, more 
extensive plans were adopted. In 1807 the Senate ordered 
Mr. Galatin, the then Secretary of State, to prepare a 
project for a general system of intercommunication by 
canals, based upon the geographical character of the 
territory of the Union ; and a system of artificial water- 
communication was accordingly projected, which at a later 
period was adopted and carried into execution. wing- 
to the war of 1812, it was not until five years later that 
the vast works were commenced, the result of which has 
been the most extensive system of inland navigation in 
the world. 

On the 4th of July, 181 7, the great line of canal con- 
necting the Hudson with Lake Erie was inaugurated. 
The Hudson presenting a navigable communication 



262 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

for vessels of a large class from New York to Albany, 
the object of this line of canal was to open a water- 
communication between Albany and the Lakes, so as to 
connect continuously the north-western States with the 
Atlantic. This work was accomplished in less than eight 
years, and the State of New York, with its exclusive 
resources, executed and brought into operation the Erie 
Canal, the largest in the world, costing, with its branches, 
$13,000,000 (£2,600,000). It was, however, still found in- 
adequate to the exigencies of a continually increasing traffic, 
and its enlargement was decided upon in 1835, when it 
was finally completed, at a cost of upwards of 325,000,000 
(£5,000,000 sterling). Its cost of construction per mile was 
about $68,500 (£13,700). The total length is 363 miles. 

Pennsylvania soon rivalled New York in these enter- 
prises, the discovery of the coal-fields in 1820 causing a 
rapid development of canals in that State. These works 
were undertaken to a greater or less extent in most of the 
Atlantic and some of the Western States ; and the United 
States now possesses a system of artificial water-communi- 
cation amounting to nearly 6000 miles. 

The principal canals are the following : — 

Width Number 
Miles, in feet, of Locks. 

Erie Canal, from Hudson River to the Lakes 363 40 84 

Pennsylvania Canal, Delaware and Ohio „.... 395 40 200 

Ohio Canal, Ohio River and Lake Erie 307 40 152 

Miami „ „ „ „ 178 40 102 

Indiana,, „ „ „ 379 60 102 

Illinois Canal, Lake Michigan with Illinois River 102 60 2 

The Illinois and Michigan Canal, forming the connect- 
ing link between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi River 
is to be made a ship canal. The water with which it is 
supplied is pumped up twelve feet from Lake Michigan. 



TELEGRAPHS. 263 

In order to overcome the difference of level between 
Lakes Ontario and Erie, and to afford a navigable con- 
nection, the Welland Canal has been constructed on 
Canadian territory with a series of locks, through which 
vessels, principally American, pass in great numbers. 



TELEGRAPHS. 

The first line of electric telegraph in the United States 
was from Washington to Baltimore, a distance of forty 
miles. It was opened in May, 1844, was afterwards 
extended to New York, 250 miles, and in 1845 continued 
on to Boston. From this line branches were soon con- 
structed — one of 1000 miles in length, from Philadelphia 
to St. Louis ; another of 1300 miles, via Albany and the 
lake cities to Milwaukee, Wisconsin ; and a third, of 1395 
miles, from Buffalo, KY., to Halifax. A line of 1200 
miles was constructed from Cleveland to New Orleans, also 
a long line from Washington to Charleston, South Carolina, 
and Savannah, Georgia. The rapidity with which their 
construction was carried on when once started may 
be gathered from the fact that, while in 1848 there were 
only 3000 miles in operation, in 1850 there were 22,000 
miles, 19,000 having been constructed in two years. In 
1853 the number of miles constructed amounted to 26,375, 
and in 1866 the number of miles in operation is estimated 
at 100,000. 

The Western Union Telegraph Company completed in 
1861 a telegraph line, connecting the more easterly network 
of the continent with the California wires at San Fran- 
cisco ; and a northward extension of the California line, 



264 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

afterwards carried along the Pacific coast, had, in 1864, 
been constructed to Olympia, on the south of Puget's 
Sound, and thence to Victoria, on Vancouver's Island, thus 
putting the Atlantic and Pacific coasts in immediate com- 
munication. Another line is being constructed by the 
" United States Pacific Telegraph Company." Starting 
from San Francisco, it has a double wire upon a single set 
of poles to Port Kearney, Nebraska, at which point the 
wires will diverge, one running to St. Louis and the other 
to Chicago. The total length of this line will be 3270 
miles, including both branches, and 6040 miles of wire 
will be required in its construction. 

The projected Russo- American telegraph, known as the 
Collins Overland Line, is designed to connect the entire 
North American system of lines — as well as eventually the 
South American also — by way of British Columbia and 
Behring Strait, with the great Russian line, at its ter- 
mination at the mouth of the Amoor River in Eastern 
Asia. The length of the line is about 6040 miles. The 
length of cable required at Behring Strait would be about 
forty miles. The waters are about 180 feet deep, and are 
frozen through one-half the year ; but it is believed that 
the safety of the cable would not be endangered by the ice. 
When this overland line is completed, it will, with the 
Atlantic cable, complete a telegraphic circuit around the 
earth between the parallels of 42° and 65 3 north latitude. 



THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 265 



THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 

The idea of establishing telegraphic communication 
between England and America was first discussed by a 
small party of gentlemen called together in New York, by 
Cyrus W. Field, Esq., in 1854. The final result of their 
discussions was a written agreement that the enterprise 
should be at once undertaken. In the same year an act of 
incorporation was obtained of the Legislature of New- 
foundland, under the title of the " New York, Newfound- 
land, and London Telegraph Company," granting the 
exclusive right for fifty years to land cables on the shores 
of Newfoundland and any places adjacent thereto, under 
their jurisdiction. 

Having in 1856 completed a cable across the Gulf of 
St. Lawrence, and established lines connecting Newfound- 
land with the United States, Mr. Field then procured from 
the United States Government an order for a steamer to 
sound the Atlantic from Newfoundland to Ireland, and a 
similar assistance was obtained by him the following year 
from the British Admiralty, under whose instructions 
careful soundings were made. A new company was soon 
afterwards formed in England, under the name of " The 
Atlantic Telegraph Company," the two companies agreeing 
to operate in connection. 

In August, 1857, the first attempt to lay the Atlantic 
cable between Newfoundland and Ireland — a distance of 
1668 nautical miles — was made ; but this, as well as a 
second attempt in the following year, failed to accomplish 
the object. In July, 1858, the fleet again sailed, to make 
the third effort to achieve the great enterprise. The splice 
was made in mid-ocean, the two steamers, " Niagara," and 
"Agamemnon," proceeding in opposite directions, and 



266 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

each on August 5th landed their respective ends of the 
cable at Valentia and Trinity Bay. The submersion of the 
Atlantic cable was thus accomplished, and some four 
hundred messages were duly transmitted, among others the 
memorable communication between Her Majesty Queen 
Victoria and President Buchanan. From the first, how- 
ever, there had been defects in the cable, which caused 
constantly increasing interruptions in the communications, 
until September 1st, when the cable entirely ceased to 
transmit messages. 

The practicability of establishing telegraphic commu- 
nication between Europe and America, however, had been 
proven by this successful submersion of the cable. 
Encouraged by accomplished facts, and the opinions of 
men of science and practical experience, the projectors of 
the enterprise determined to persevere. In 1864 the 
necessary capital was subscribed principally in England for 
a fresh attempt. The new cable, as well as the preceding 
ones, was manufactured in England. Various important 
improvements were made, the result of scientific research 
and the experience of the past, in addition to which every 
advantage was taken of the advancements made in tele- 
graphic apparatus and appliances. 

The steamship " Great Eastern " was selected, on 
account of her immense size, for the work of laying the 
cable, which was coiled on board the vessel in three 
immense tanks, of such size as to contain the cable and 
sufficient water to keep it submerged. In July, 1865, the 
giant ship steamed out to sea upon her grand mission. 
1212 miles of the cable had been successfully payed out 
when a fault was discovered, and in attempting to haul the 
cable in it parted, and all attempts to recover it proving 
unsuccessful, the "Great Eastern" returned to England. 
Preparations were immediately made to renew the at- 



THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 



267 



tempt, the " Great Eastern" being retained for the 
purpose. The new cable is essentially the same as the 
former, the principal difference being that the protecting 
wires are galvanized. 




ATLANTIC CABLE OP 1865-6. EXACT SIZE. 

Conductor. — Copper strand consisting of seven wires, imbedded 
for solidity in Cliatterton's Compound. Insulation. — Grutta Percha 
(a), four layers of which are laid on alternatively with four thin 
layers of Cliatterton's Compound. The copper strand and this insula- 
tion form the " core." External Protection. — Ten solid wires (c), 
those in the cable of 1866 being galvanized, each surrounded sepa- 
rately with five strands of Manilla Yarn (b), saturated with a 
preservative compound, and the whole laid spirally round the core, 
which latter is padded with ordinary hemp, saturated with preservative 
mixture. 



CHAPTER YIIL 

THE KELIGION— EDUCATION. 



RELIGION. 

Religion in the United States presents itself under varied 
and peculiar aspects. From the first settlement of the New 
England States it has formed a prominent and important 
feature in the national institutions, and an open profession 
of attachment to some denomination is made in a much 
more zealous and decided manner than in any other 
country. The Christian religion is almost universal, the 
Protestant being the predominant though not the exclu- 
sive form of worship. The principle of religions tolera- 
tion is deeply rooted in the minds of people, having 
grown out of the earnest religious movements which led 
to the first settlements. 

The nation, as such, makes no profession, and provides 
'no funds for the establishment of religion. There is no 
established church ; indeed the union of Church and State 
was so distasteful to the founders of the Republic, that a 
clause was inserted in the constitution providing that 
" Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment 
of religion." Every shade of religious opinion is thus left 
to exercise its natural and unbiassed influence, and though 



EELIGION. 269 

sectarian jealousies exist to a considerable extent, there is 
nothing akin to persecution, or even of the nature of religious 
disabilities known in America. There are, of course, no 
" Dissenters," or, rather, all are " Dissenters." Though no 
particular denomination is fostered by the State, the Chris- 
tian religion has been in most, if not all the States, recog- 
nized by statute or judicial decisions as part of the common 
law, and is enforced as such in regard to the observance of the 
Sabbath, the protection of the sanctity of Christian worship, 
and various other particulars. The absence of State inter- 
ference in religious matters is by no means an indication 
of lukewarmness on the part of the people. In no part of 
the world is religion more universally embraced, or more 
liberally supported ; and a survey of the religious statistics 
of the last census shows a large proportion of the popula- 
tion as church members ; while the buildings consecrated 
to worship, although not so costly and magnificent as 
those of the Old World, are fully as numerous in pro- 
portion to population. Though unaided by forced taxa- 
tion, churches have sprung up as if by magic, not only 
in the cities, towns, and villages, but in the very wilder- 
ness. Even in localities where a frame building would 
exceed the scanty means of the people, the primitive log 
"meeting-house " is frequently seen amid the lonely forest. 
Favoured by the general freedom of conscience, the 
representatives of all the forms of Christianity in the 
Old World, with the exception of the Greek and Arme- 
nian churches, have planted themselves in the United 
States. The Methodists take the lead in point of 
numbers throughout the greater portion of the country, 
except in New England, where they rank second or 
third. The Baptists come next to the Methodists, and are 
subdivided into several sects ; the regular or restricted 
communion Baptists being by far the most numerous. 



270 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

The Baptist colleges, thirty-five in number, are largely 
endowed, Brown University being the oldest, and Rochester 
and Chicago the largest. This denomination predominates 
in Rhode Island, Virginia, Kentucky, and most of the 
Southern States. Presbyterians come next in point of 
numbers, the largest being the Old School Presbyterian 
Church, which has its largest membership in the Middle, 
Southern, and South-western States. The New School 
Presbyterians are found chiefly in the Middle and Western 
States, and the Cumberland Presbyterians in the South- 
western States. The Protestant Reformed Dutch Church 
flourishes principally in New York and New Jersey ; the 
German Reformed Church in Pennsylvania, Maryland, 
North Carolina, and Ohio ; and the Lutherans, consist- 
ing mostly of German, Swedish, and Danish emigrants, 
in Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, North Carolina, South 
Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, 
and Wisconsin. 

The Protestant Episcopalian (Church of England), 
though having a smaller number of communicants than most 
of those previously named, is a prominent and influential 
body. In New York, Philadelphia, and perhaps some other 
large cities, the congregations are more wealthy than those 
of any other denomination. Before the revolution it was 
the established church of New York and Virginia, and is 
still one of the leading denominations in those States, as 
well as in Maryland, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania. The 
Congregationalists are divided into two classes, the Ortho- 
dox, or Trinitarian, and the Unitarian Congregationalists. 
The former are most numerous in the New England States, 
and have a considerable number of churches in New York 
and in the Western States. The Unitarian Congregationalists 
are more numerous in Massachusetts than elsewhere, buthave 
some congregations in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, 



KELIGION. 271 

Connecticut, New York, District of Columbia, Maryland, 
South Carolina, Alabama, Louisiana, Missouri, and Cali- 
fornia. The " Disciples of Christ," also called " Campbel- 
lites," from Alexander Campbell, the originator of the 
denomination, are found chiefly in Kentucky, Ohio, Vir- 
ginia, Tennessee, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, and Iowa. 
On the subject and action of Baptism they agree with the 
Baptists, but differ from them as to its design. They have 
a General Missionary Society, a Bible Society, several 
colleges, of which Bethany College, in West Virginia, is 
the oldest and best endowed. The denomination called 
the Christian Connection is found mostly in the New 
England States, New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. 

The Universalists — who believe in universal salvation — 
are mostly in New England States, New York, Pennsyl- 
vania, Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, and 
Wisconsin. The Friends, or Quakers, are divided into two 
classes — the Orthodox, or Trinitarian, and the Hicksite," or 
Unitarian Friends. The former is much the larger and 
more influential. The New Jerusalem Church, or Sweden- 
borgians, are chiefly found in Massachussetts, and in 
several of the large cities. The Shakers have communi- 
ties in five or six States. The Mormons form an isolated 
sect in Utah. Jewish churches exist in most of the larger 
towns of the Union, and are principally composed of Polish 
and German emigrants. The most important are those of 
New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Cincinnati, San Fran- 
cisco, New Orleans, and Charleston. Sunday schools are 
very numerous, being supported by most of the religious 
denominations, and encouraged by grants of books and 
funds from the Treasury of the American Sunday School 
Union. 

The Baptists and Disciples, with aid from other bodies, 
have formed in New York city the American Bible Union, 



272 



DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 



for the purpose of translating the Bible from the original 
Greek and Hebrew. The New Testament has been com- 
pleted, and is now published. 

The salaries of the ministers of all denominations are 
generally sufficient for their support, and even in the 
smallest villages equal those of a large proportion of the 
curates in England. The average salary of Congregational 
and Presbyterian ministers is said to be .$700 (£140), of 
the Reformed Dutch and Episcopal clergy, about $600 ; of 
Baptist ministers, $500 ; and of Methodist ministers, 3400. 

Religious Denominations in the United States in 1862. 



Denomination. 


to 
o> 

o 
H 

o 


DO 
U 

■3 


03 

a 
3 


African Methodist Episcopal Church 

„ „ ,, Zion Church 

Baptists : 

Regular 


12,648 

1,800 

66 

18 

1,285 

80 

275 

150 

312 

2,000 

2,200 

2,856 

339 

2,045 

i',122 
170 


9,053 

850 

81 

16 

1,219 

65 

132 

150 

260 

2,000 

1,500 

2,592 

263 

2,045 

421 


20,000 
6,200 

1,037,576 
60,000 


Anti-Mission 


Seventh-Day 


6,686 

3,000 

58,055 


Six Principle 


Free-Will 


River Brethren 


7,000 


Winebrennarians 


14,000 


Dunkers 


8,200 


Mennonites 


37,360 


Disciples (Campbellites) , 


350,000 


Christian Connection 


180,000 


Congregationalists : 

Orthodox 


259,110 


Unitarian 


30,000 


Episcopalians 


150,593 
54,000 


Friends : 

Orthodox 


Hicksite 


40,000 

3,000 

100,691 


German Evangelical Union of the West 

German Reformed 


Jews 


200,000 







EELIGION. 

Religious Denominations — Continued. 



273 



Denomination. 



Lutherans 

Methodists : 

Episcopal 

Church South 

Protestant 

Evangelical Association , 

Wesleyan 

Other small Methodist bodies , , 

Mormons „ 

Presbyterians : 

Old School 

New School 

Cumberland 

Reformed Presbyterian Ch., General Synod 
. » » Synod 

United Presbyterian Church 

United Synod of Presbyterian Church ... 

Associate Synod of North America 

Associated Reformed Synod of New York 
„ „ „ the South 

Eree Presbyterian Synod of the U. States... 

Reformed Protestant Dutch Church 

Roman Catholics 

Second- Adventists 

Shakers 

Swedenborgians (New Jerusalem Church) 

United Brethren (Moravians) 

United Brethren in Christ 

Universalists 



2,487 

9,922 
1,122 



3,684 

1,466 

1,270 

91 

78 

474 

193 

49 

14 

13 

40 

419 

2,517 



57 

32 

1,118 

1,202 



1,365 

6,934 
2,591 



2,767 

1,706 

1,150 

56 

59 

444 

116 

14 

16 

4 

41 

429 

2,317 



49 

46 

1,477 

693 



260,135 

988,523 
499,694 
90,000 
46,000 
21,000 
5,000 
61,000 

300,874 

135,454 

123,000 

10,000 

6,650 

57,567 

12,934 

1,130 

1,631 

1,000 

4,000 

51,528 

600,000 

20,000 

4,700 

5,000 

8,275 

102,583 



18 



274 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 



EDUCATION. 

No country in the world offers such educational facilities 
as the United States. From the earliest period education 
has been a subject of solicitude with both the people and 
Government, and in the words of Anthony Trollope, " un- 
rivalled population, wealth, and intelligence, have been the 
results; with unrivalled comfort and happiness." That it 
is diffused very generally among all classes, is shown by 
the fact that the number of native inhabitants who can- 
not at least read and write, is very small. The enlight- 
ened men who led the early settlements of the New 
England States inculcated from the first, as a fundamental 
principle of public policy, that the education of the commu- 
nity should be carried on at the public expense, and the 
policy thus introduced has been successively adopted by the 
other States, until at last its soundness and importance is 
acknowledged by all. From this principle has grown up 
whatever is peculiar in the American system of education. 
It is essentially national in its characteristics, receiving 
State support and State supervision. Public schools are 
established by State authority ;" and in ail the new States 
one or two sections of Government land in each township 
are reserved for school purposes, and the States have also 
grants of swamp and other lands for school funds, and for 
the establishment of State universities, Though the State 
Governments take the initiative, they only go so far as to 
ordain that schools of a certain character shall exist 
among the population ; all other questions, as to buildings, 
method, etc., are determined by the people. The Govern- 
ment provides the funds, but makes the people its agent 
in their distribution. The object of the Legislature is 
well summed up in the following extract, taken from an 



EDUCATION. 275 

educational address delivered by Daniel Webster : — " We 
hope to excite a feeling of respectability and a sense of 
character by enlarging the capacities and increasing the 
sphere of intellectual enjoyment. We hope for a security 
beyond the law and above the law, in the prevalence of 
enlightened and well principled moral sentiment. We 
hope to continue and to prolong the time when in the 
villages and farmhouses there may be undisturbed sleep 
within unbarred doors. We do not indeed expect all men 
to be philosophers or statesmen ; but we confidently trust, 
and our expectation of the duration of our system of 
government rests upon the trust, that by the diffusion of 
general knowledge, and good and virtuous sentiments, the 
political fabric may be secure, as well against open 
violence and overthrow, as against the slow but sure 
undermining of licentiousness. It is every poor man's 
undoubted birthright ; it is the great blessing which this 
constitution has secured to him ; it is his solace in life ; 
and it may well be his consolation in death, that his 
country stands pledged by the faith which it has plighted 
to all its citizens, to protect his children from ignorance, 
barbarianism, and vice." 

There is no university in the United States, in the 
European sense of an institution in advance of the college 
receiving only those who have completed their course in 
the latter ; nor in the English sense, of a senate, elected, 
governed, and controlled by other corporations, with its 
fellowships, its sinecure professorships, and its ancient and 
peculiar traditions ; nor yet after the model of the Univer- 
sity of London, where any one may obtain the degrees it 
confers, without residence, by successfully passing its 
examinations. There are, however, a number of State 
universities which fcrm, as it were, the apex to a system 
of which common schools form the base, and grammar 



276 



DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 



schools, high schools and colleges the successive stages. 
In New York is a special organization called the University 
of New York, consisting of a board of regents elected by 
the Legislature on the nomination of the governor. This 
board has the entire control of all the educational estab- 
lishments in the State. 

The number of colleges in the United States is 229, 
distributed as follows, and having in their libraries a total 
of nearly one million and a quarter of volumes : — 



Maine 

New Hampshire 

Vermont 

Massachusetts 

Rhode Island 


2 
1 
3 
6 
1 
3 

20 
3 

20 

10 
3 

11 
4 
4 
7 
4 


Mississippi 

Louisiana , 

Texas 

Tennessee 

Kentucky 

Ohio 

Indiana 

Illinois 

Missouri .. 


4 

..... 7 

4 

7 

8 


Connecticut 

New York 


24 

13 


New Jersey 

Pennsylvania 


15 

11 


Maryland 

District of Columbia.. 
Virginia. . . 


Michigan 


4 


Wisconsin 

Iowa 


10 

9 


North Carolina 

South Carolina 


Minnesota 

New Mexico . . 


3 

1 


Georgia 


California 


4 


Alabama 


Oregon 


3 



These colleges differ greatly in the extent and com- 
pleteness of their course of instruction, some being little 
more than academies giving an elementary course in 
mathematics and classics, while others equal the best 
classical schools of Europe in their requirements, and a 
few in the older States, such as Harvard and Yale, ap- 
proach the dignity of first- class universities in the extent 



EDUCATION. 277 

and completeness of their curriculum, as well as the worth 
of the degrees they confer ; some having connected with 
them departments for the scientific or professional study 
of law, medicine, theology, etc. 

The following is a brief account of the principal uni- 
versities : — 

Harvard University, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the 
oldest in the United States, was founded in 1G38 by the 
Rev. John Harvard. It embraces, besides its collegiate 
department, schools for law, medicine, and theology. The 
buildings are fifteen in number, and are all located in 
Cambridge. The principal is the Rev. Thomas Hill. Its 
number of students averages about 800, and it has a 
splendid library of about 150,000 volumes. Yale College, 
the second oldest in America, is at New Haven, Con- 
necticut, and was established in the year 1700. It 
is famous as having sent out more graduates than any 
other educational institution in America. The buildings 
of the college are among the chief attractions of the city, 
and the apartments devoted to the Fine Arts are especially 
worthy of notice, being occupied by the large collection of 
the works of the eminent painter Trumbull. The prin- 
cipal is the Rev. Theo. D. Woolsey, D.D., LL.D. The 
number of students is about 600. Number of volumes in 
library, 75,000. Brown University, at Providence, Rhode 
Island, is one of the best establishments in America. It 
was founded in 1764, and is remarkable for its large and 
valuable library, which is rich in rare and costly works. 
The total number of volumes is 37,000. Columbia College, 
New York, established in 1754, was chartered by 
George II., under the title of King's College. At the 
Revolution the title was changed. Charles King, LL.D., 
is the principal; the number of students is about 200; 
the library contains about 18,000 volumes. The University 



278 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

of Virginia, near Charlottesville, was founded by Thomas 
Jefferson in 1819, who considered that it was the third 
best action he had performed during his whole life, 
honourable and useful as it was. It is distinguished for the 
high quality of its learning, and has about 400 students. 
The number of volumes in the library is about 30,000. 

Most of the colleges in the United States were founded 
and are maintained by particular religious denominations. 
There are nearly sixty theological schools and seminaries, 
of which twenty are connected with colleges ; fifty medical 
schools, of which about one-half are departments of uni- 
versities ; ten or twelve scientific schools, of which only 
three, as yet, are connected with universities : — the Lau- 
rance Scientific School, at Cambridge, Massachusetts, with 
Harvard University; the Sheffield, at New Haven, Con- 
necticut, with Tale College ; and the Chandler School, at 
Hanover, New Hampshire, with Dartmouth College. One 
has also been projected in connection with Union College, 
Schenectady, New York. In several of the Northern 
States the tendency is to the organization of graded 
schools, the public schools of a town or village being 
arranged so as to have one or more high schools, three or 
four grammar schools, and a still larger number of inter- 
mediate and primary schools, all supported by taxes on 
property and the allowance from the school fund. The 
pupil, entering the primary school at five or six years of 
age, may pass by successive examinations to the highest 
department ; and, there being no charge for tuition, the 
child of the poorest citizen can thus acquire an education 
hardly inferior in extent and thoroughness to that of the 
colleges. In some of the States this system is carried 
still further by the organization of free State universities. 
Massachusetts has reserved a considerable number of 
scholarships in the higher institutions, which are at the 



EDUCATION. 279 

disposal of the Board of Education ; and if a pupil desires 
to become a teacher, the four Normal Schools of the State 
afford the opportunity of becoming qualified without 
charge for instruction. The New England States are in 
advance of the rest of the Union in facilities for the diffu- 
sion of knowledge. Everywhere, with the exception of 
Connecticut, the primary schools are supported by a 
property-tax, and some of the schools have other funds in 
addition. The common or public free schools are managed 
in each district by twelve directors chosen by the people ; 
and the children are taught gratuitously, the only expense 
being for books. These schools are established in every 
rural district of five or six square miles. In Connecticut 
there is \ school fund of which, the annual revenue is 
about $40,000. In the New England States, though the 
laws differ, yet the leading principles are the same in all. 
"Indeed," says Professor Ticknor, of Boston, "in almost 
every part of these States, whatever may be the injunc- 
tions of the law, the popular demand for education is so 
much greater, that the legal requisitions are generally 
exceeded. The mode in which the system is carried into 
effect is perfectly simple, and is one principal cause of its 
practical efficienc}?-. The New England States are divided 
into townships, with corporate privileges and duties, the 
affairs of which are managed by a committee chosen 
annually, called selectmen. In all but the smallest towns 
one school at least is kept open through the whole year, 
in which Latin, Greek, the lower branches of mathematics, 
and whatever goes to constitute a common English educa- 
tion in reading, writing, geography, etc., are taught. Each 
district has its school-committee, who determine the place 
where it shall be kept, employ the teacher, and are 
responsible for the faithful fulfilment of the trust 
committed to them. There are not less than from 



280 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

ten to twelve thousand free schools in New England 
alone." 

The above outline of the New England system is the 
basis of that of the Union generally. The Western States 
will, if their lands are properly managed, be largely en- 
dowed, as the sixteenth section of every township is 
granted for school purposes. The Southern States have 
not made a very marked advance towards any well-organ- 
ized school system ; their population is a scattered one, 
and consequently there is a difficulty in the way of forming 
and maintaining common schools. A system of free public 
schools, similar to that established in New England, does 
however exist in several, and in facilities for education of a 
higher class, they will compare favourably with many of 
the Northern States. The late civil war greatly retarded 
the progress of education in the South, but there is little 
•doubt that it will ere long recover its lost position. 
The amount annually expended in the United States for 
the support of common schools is over $20,000,000 
(£4,000,000), and the number of children attending in 
1860 was nearly ten millions. In the State of New York, 
which stands at the head of the educational statistics, the 
number of school districts in 1861 was 11,683 ; and the 
entire expenditure of the year amounted to the large sum 
of $3,842,250 (£768,450) ; and the tax on property (for 
the purpose of education), of three-fourths of a mill on each 
dollar of taxable property, yielded over $1,085,000 
(£217,000). 

The importance of Normal Schools for the especial 
training of teachers is fully recognized in America. The 
first was established at Lexington, Massachusetts, in 1839, 
by the Hon. Horace Mann, whose name stands foremost 
among the promoters of education in America. There are 
now twenty State Normal Schools supported out of the 



EDUCATION. 



281 



public funds, and free to those designing to become teachers 
within the State in which they receive instruction. They 
are located as follows :— In Massachusetts four, in Penn- 
sylvania three, and one in each of the following States — 
viz., Maine, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New 
Jersey, Maryland, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, 
Minnesota, Kansas, and California. The principal cities 
also provide, in connection with the public schools, for the 
professional training of those intending to devote them- 
selves to education. During the past few years the school 
system has taken a forward step in the introduction of 
improved and more philosophical methods of teaching in 
all departments. At Oswego, in the State of New York, a 
school has been established for the introduction of the 
Pestalozzian system of " object teaching." It has proved 
highly successful, and is visited by teachers from all parts 
of the Union. Besides the public and general means of 
instruction, the private schools are numerous, and infant 
and Sunday schools exist in great numbers. Among the 
largest of the public libraries are those belonging to the 
Harvard University, at Hartford, in the State of Con- 
necticut, the Athenceum at Boston, the Franklin Library 
at Philadelphia, and the Astor Library of New York. 
Besides these, are the libraries attached to the various 
mechanics' and other kindred institutions throughout 
the country. Among the public collections of objects 
of art and science, which may be regarded as important 
adjuncts of education, are the Botanical Gardens at Cam- 
bridge, New York, and Philadelphia; and the Mineral Collec- 
tions of Cambridge, New Haven, and Brunswick. Museums, 
libraries, etc., are to be found in every city and important 
town throughout the country. 

Owing to the general diffusion of education, a taste for 
reading is everywhere prevalent. This is strikingly shown 



282 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

in the fondness for periodical literature. Newspapers 
are seen everywhere in the hands of the labouring 
as well as the wealthy classes, their moderate price placing 
them within the reach of all : and in no country has the 
influence of the press been more sensibly witnessed, and 
nowhere is so large a share of popular attention given to 
the discussion of questions of a social and political charac- 
ter. There is no paper w T hich wields the influence pos- 
sessed by the " Times," or other leading London papers in 
England. The New York papers, " Tribune," " Times," 
and " Herald," have a wide circulation outside of their 
district, but they are not to be considered as exponents of 
the feeling of all parts of the Union ; and to learn the 
politics of the Eastern, Western, or Southern States, the 
last place to look for them would be in a Xew York paper. 
Mr. Dicey, in his valuable and impartial work entitled 
"Six Months in the Federal States," says: "As a man 
changes his district, so he changes his paper ; and in every 
district there are one or more leading papers, which in 
their own district are what the ' Herald ' is in New 
York." A remarkable characteristic of the American press 
is the quantity of matter crowded into the sheets. On 
the whole, it resembles the English newspapers in the 
unwieldy size of the sheets, in the immense quantity of 
news given, in the great space occupied by advertisements, 
and in the fact that the leading articles are practical 
comments, not abstract essays. Here, however, the 
resemblance between the American and the London press 
ceases. An American paper is a sort of cross between a 
county newspaper and a penny journal. 

The returns of the last census show that the people are 
essentially a newspaper-reading people, and also that a 
large portion of their reading is of a political nature. Of 
4051 papers and periodicals published in I860, 3242 were 



EDUCATION. 283 

of a political character, 298 were devoted to literature, 277 
to religion and theology, and 234 were classed as miscel- 
laneous. During the ten years ending 1860, the political 
papers increased 100 per cent. The total circulation of all 
papers in 1850 was 426,409,978 copies ; in 1860 this had 
increased to 927,951,548 copies, an increase of 117 per 
cent. 



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CHAPTER IX. 

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRINCIPAL CITIES. 

A few of the leading characteristics of all the principal 
towns and cities have already been given under the head 
of the individual States. In this chapter is given a more 
detailed description of those which occupy positions of 
political or commercial importance. 



NEW YORK. 

New York, the commercial capital of the United States, 
the first city in population and wealth on the American 
continent, and the third in the world, was settled by the 
Dutch as early as 1612. It has, however, attained the 
greater part of its present size within the last fifty years. 
It now covers nearly the whole island of Manhattan. 
From its admirable position and magnificent harbour, it 
possesses unsurpassed facilities for trade and commerce. 
The harbour, twenty-five miles in circuit, is one of the 
safest and most spacious in the world, opening through the 
famous " narrows " into an outer harbour or bay, stretch- 
ing to Sandy Hook, eighteen miles from the city. It 



286 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

could accommodate all the navies in the world, and the 
shipping to be seen lying at its docks surpasses even that 
of London. 

The streets, which were formerly very irregular, have 
"been widened and improved, and no city can exhibit 
a more beautiful plan than the northern portion of New 
York. Broadway, running north and south, extends from 
the Battery to King's Bridge, fourteen miles. The first 
three miles of its course is perfectly straight, and offers a 
fine perspective. It is eighty feet wide, occupies the height 
between the two rivers, and with its magnificent stores, 
hotels, etc., with fronts principally of white marble, forms 
one of the most splendid promenades that any city can 
boast. 

The Rev. J. P. Chown, of Bradford, thus vividly 
describes ^Broadway and the Fifth Avenue : " It may be 
the clear, transparent, smokeless atmosphere ; it may be 
the architecture of the thoroughfares and the enormous 
size of the buildings ; it may be the number of banners and 
bright colours that are always, more or less, waving in the 
breeze ; it may be that the public vehicles are more brightly 
and variedly painted than ours ; it may be the somewhat 
gaily-dressed pedestrians that throng the streets ; but, be 
it what it may, the more I looked upon it the more I felt, 
calling to mind some of the noblest thoroughfares in the 
cities of Europe, that this Broadway was the most pictur- 
esque and striking public thoroughfare I had ever looked 
upon. The Fifth Avenue is equally wonderful, but entirely 
distinct and separate from it. Broadway is a business 
thoroughfare, while the Fifth Avenue is full of private 
residences, and you would find it difficult to conceive of 
any city in which you would see as great a length of ele- 
gant, beautiful, noble dwellings as there. Take one build- 
ing of marble, as white as snow — the builder's estimates 



NEW YORK. 287 

for that are a million and a half of dollars, and the entire 
expenses will be two millions more, or £400,000. The 
thoroughfare stretches for two miles, making a beautiful 
line of gardens and groves." 

Wall Street, occupied by banks, insurance offices, 
brokers' offices, the Custom House, United States Treasury 
building, and many fine granite buildings, is the centre of 
the monetary world of America. 

One of the principal objects of curiosity in New York 
is the Croton aqueduct and waterworks, which are on the 
scale of the stupendous works of the ancient Romans. 
This aqueduct, which supplies the city with water, com- 
mences at the Croton River, 40 miles above the city, where 
the dam creates a pond of five miles long, covering a surface 
of 400 acres, and containing 500,000,000 gallons of water. 
From this point the aqueduct proceeds through tunnels in 
solid rocks, over valleys by embankments, to the Harlem 
River, which it crosses on a magnificent bridge of stone, 
1450 feet long, with 15 piers, eight of them bearing arches of 
80 feet span, and seven others of 50 feet span, 114 feet above 
tide-water at the top. The aqueduct is built principally 
of stone. It has a descent of 13 J inches per mile, and 
will discharge 70,000,000 of gallons every 24 hours. 
The receiving reservoir at Eighty-sixth Street, 38 miles 
from the Croton dam, covers 35 acres, and holds 150,000,000 
gallons. The distributing reservoir, on Murray's Hill, in 
Fortieth Street, covers four acres, and is constructed of stone 
and cement, 45 feet high above the street, and holds 
20,000,000 gallons. Thence the water is distributed over 
the city in iron pipes, laid so deep under ground as to 
be secure from frost. The water is the purest of river 
water. The new reservoir in Central Park has an area of 
106 acres, and contains 1,000,000,000 gallons. The total 
cost of this great work is about $25,000,000 (£5,000,000). 



288 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

The Battery is situated at the south-eastern end of the 
island, at the junction of the Hudson and East rivers. It 
is crescent-shaped, and contains about 11 acres of ground, 
tastefully laid out. From it is obtained a fine view of the 
bay, with its islands and the adjacent shores. The Bowling 
Green, at the southern termination of Broadway, is an 
elliptical area, 220 feet long, and 145 broad, containing a 
fountain supplied by the Croton waterworks, and inclosed 
by an iron railing. The Park, called in early times the 
Commons, is a triangular area of lOf acres, and contains 
the City Hall, the city buildings, the Hall of Records, and 
Rotunda. It has also a public fountain, with a basin 100 
feet in diameter. St. John's Park, in Hudson Street, con- 
taining about four acres of ground, is beautifully laid out 
with walks, shaded with trees, and embellished with a 
fountain. Washington Square, a mile and a half north of 
the City Hall, contains about 10 acres tastefully laid out 
with shrubs and flowers. The Central Park was com- 
menced in 1857, and contains 843 acres. It is about 2\ 
miles long, and about half a mile wide ; within its area 
are 9 miles of well made carriage drives, h\ miles of bridle 
road, and 22-g- miles of walk. More than 56 miles of pipe and 
tile drainage have been laid, and a system of waterworks 
designed to supply water for drinking and irrigation has 
been completed, the pipes of which are more than 15 miles 
in extent. The central architectural structure of the Park is 
the terrace, towards which all the walks of the southerly 
part of the Park converge. The Mall is a broad walk of 
about a quarter of a mile in length, planted with rows of 
majestic elms. There are four transverse roads crossing 
the Park at about half a mile apart, so constructed below 
the surface of the Park as to facilitate the passage of 
business traffic from one side of the city to the other 
without interrupting the pleasure travel. The archways 



NEW YORK. 280 

are among the novel and useful features of the Park. By 
means of these the intersecting lines of travel are carried 
on different levels, thus avoiding danger to foot passengers. 
It is the intention of the Commissioners of the Park to 
establish an arboretum, within which may be found every 
species of tree and shrub adapted to the soil and climate. 
The planting of the Park has been very extensive, consist- 
ing of over 200,000 trees and shrubs. A zoological garden 
is also to be established, and a floral conservatory. There 
are several beautiful artificial lakes frequented by pleasure- 
boats. When frozen in the winter, these lakes afford 
amusement to thousands of skaters. 

Among the principal and most notable of the public 
buildings are the City Hall, which contains the chair used 
by Washington as President of the first American Congress ; 
the Custom House, built of granite, at a cost of $1,800,000 ; 
and the United States Treasury, built of white marble, 200 
feet long, 90 feet wide, and 80 feet high. Among the literary 
institutions are Columbia College, New York University, the 
Free Academy, and the Cooper Institute. The Free Academy 
is a public collegiate institute, the pupils of which are 
selected from those who have shown unusual talent and 
industry in the public schools. The Cooper Institute was 
founded by the munificent public spirit of Peter Cooper, 
Esq., an eminent merchant, and is designed for the free 
education of the people. It gives instruction to 2000 
students. Among the libraries are the Mercantile, the 
Mechanics' Institute, and the Astor Library, founded by 
John Jacob Astor, for the free use of the public. It is one 
of the most elegant, conveniently arranged, and efficiently 
conducted public libraries in the world. It contains at 
present about 130,000 volumes — the largest collection in 
America. 

Statcri Island, six miles below the city, is a favourite 

19 



290 DESCKIPTIYB HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

suburban Lome of New York; it is 14 miles long*, and 
from 4 to 8 wide. Elegant residences cluster on the 
heights of Richmond Hill, which commands grand and 
delightful views of the vicinity. 

A great characteristic of New York is din and excite- 
ment ; everything is done in a hurry, all is anxiety and 
bustle. This is especially noticeable in the principal 
thoroughfares, caused by the incessant passing and re- 
passing of thousands of vehicles, and multitudes of people. 



BROOKLYN. 

Brooklyn, separated from New York by East River, is' 
in point of population the third city of the Union. It is 
laid out with great order and regularity, the streets crossing 
each other at right angles ; some of them are of great 
width, and adorned with trees, which in summer afford a 
most agreeable shade, and give to the city all the fresh- 
ness of a country town. " Brooklyn Heights " afford 
a beautiful view of the surrounding scenery, and of the 
shipping in New York harbour. The houses are re- 
markably well built, arc generally of elegant design, 
and in the south-western part they are surrounded by 
gardens and shrubbery. The public buildings are generally 
elegant and substantial structures. The City Hall is a fine 
building built of white marble, 162 feet long, by 102 feet 
wide, and 75 feet high, and surmounted by a dome 153 
feet from the ground. The Atlieneeum, Lyceum, Academy 
of Music, Orphan Asylum, Church of the Trinity, Church 
of the Pilgrims — all are handsome buildings. Brooklyn 
being so near New York, and the facilities of communica- 



BROOKLYN. 291 

tion between the two cities being so great, it lias become a 
favourite place of residence for persons doing business in 
New York. The harbour is spacious ; the Atlantic Dock 
is one of the most extensive works of its kind in the United 
States, embracing over 40 acres, and costing about 
$1,000,000 (£200,000). The United States Navy Yard 
occupies about 40 acres of ground, and has extensive work- 
shops and ship-houses. The Naval Lyceum, formed in 
1833, by officers connected with the port, has a fine 
collection of mineral and geological specimens, with other 
curiosities. 

Greenwood Cemetery is a beautiful tract ' of ground, 
330 acres in extent, containing every variety of landscape — 

<( Forest deep and gloomy, 
Woodland, vale, and hill." 

It is laid out with great taste; winding avenues and 
paths, 15 miles in extent, lead the visitor amid thick 
foliage, by the side of secluded lakes, or to the top of some 
eminence from whence views are obtained of the Atlantic, 
and the adjacent cities. There are many costly and ele- 
gant monuments. One of them, a most beautiful marble 
structure, is to the memory of Miss Charlotte Cauda, who 
was accidentally killed while returning from an evening 
party. Her father erected this monument at a cost of 
^30,000 (£G000). The Fireman's monument, erected to the 
memory of firemen who fall while in the execution of their 
duty, is one of the finest in the ground. The Pilot's monu- 
ment stands on an elevation overlooking the bay and 
harbour, from whence it can be seen. 



292 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 



BOSTON. 

From its historical associations and commercial im- 
portance, Boston is one of the most interesting cities in the 
Union. Its foundation dates from the earliest days of the 
discovery and colonization of the "Western continent. It 
is celebrated for the high social culture, morality, and 
enterprise of its inhabitants, as well as for the great 
educational facilities it offers. It is called the Athens of 
America. The city is situated amidst beautiful natural 
scenery, and possesses many handsome buildings. It is 
divided into three sections : Boston proper, East, and 
South Boston. The Puritans gave it the name of Fremont, 
the name of Boston was afterwards bestowed by the Rev. 
John Cotton, who emigrated from Boston, England. 
The old city proper, which is thoroughly English in 
aspect, is situated on a peninsula of some 700 acres, and 
is connected by a narrow isthmus, with the main land on 
the south, where the suburb of Roxbury now stands. 
Many bridges of peculiar construction and unusual length 
connect Cambridge, Charleston, Chelsea, and South 
Boston with the peninsula. The longest is the old Calem- 
bridge bridge, 2758 feet, with a causeway of 3432 feet. 
Near the centre of South Boston are Dorchester Heights, 
a memorable battle ground of the Revolution. In East 
Boston is the wharf of the Cunard steamers, 1000 feet long. 

The streets are quite European in their appearance, 
beiug almost as intricate and irregular as those of London. 
Boston Common is a spacious and delightful public park, 
overlooking the State Capitol. It embraces fifty acres, 
ornamented with trees and a fountain. Among the public 
edifices the famous Faneuil Hall is the most interesting 
from the historical associations clustering around it. It 



BOSTON. 293 

was here that the " Sons of Liberty," the fathers of the 
Revolution, held their meetings, and addressed the people. 
It was presented to the city by a generous merchant 
whose name it bears. The Exchange is one of the finest 
and most substantial edifices in America, covering 13,000 
feet of ground. The State House, on Beacon Hill fronting 
the Common, is a well-built edifice, and contains Chantrey's 
statue of Washington. The City Hall is chiefly interest- 
ing for its colossal bronze statue of Benjamin Franklin, 
by R. B. Greenough ; the Boston Athenceum is a hand- 
some edifice, and is possessed of a library of more than 
50,000 volumes, and a fine gallery of paintings. 

Among the other institutions may be named Harvard 
University at Cambridge ; the Massachusetts Historical 
Society, possessing a library of 12,000 volumes ; the 
Sewell Institute for the delivery of free lectures upon 
scientific and art topics ; the Lyceum, and the Society of 
Natural History. Among the chief objects of curiosity is 
Bunker's Hill monument, an obelisk of whitish granite, 
221 feet in height, with a square base of 30 feet, from 
which it tapers to a point. It was erected in commemora- 
tion of the battle of Bunker's Hill, fought on the spot, and 
was inaugurated in 1843. In the suburban city of Cam- 
bridge is the Cragie House, which became the head 
quarters and abode of General Washington when, on the 
2nd of January, 1 775, he took command of the American 
armies. It is now the residence of the poet Longfellow. 
Mount Auburn Cemetery, about four miles from the city is 
one of the most beautiful of burying-places, situated amid 
charming rural scenery, and adorned with all that taste 
and art can suggest. 



29-1 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 



PHILADELPHIA. 

Philadelphia, founded and named by "William Penn 
in 1682, is the second city in extent and population in 
the Union. There is an air of neatness and peculiar 
cleanliness about this city. It is laid out with great 
regularity, the streets, with but few exceptions, crossing 
each other at right angles. There are several public 
parks, planted with trees, embellished with fountains, and 
tastefully planned with gravelled walks. The city was 
laid out in 1682 by Thomas Holmes, the first surveyor- 
general of the province, and was the adopted city of 
J/ranklin. 

The public buildings, whicli are generally constructed 
of white marble, are among the most elegant in the 
United States. The Custom House, of white marble, built 
on the model of the Parthenon, the Pennsylvania Bank, 
the Mint of the United States, the Exchange, witli Corin- 
thian columns, and comprising a spacious hall and news- 
room, the United States Custom House, the G-irard Bank, 
Masonic Hall, and several new banking houses, are the 
public buildings most remarkable for beauty; but the 
most interesting, from its venerable appearance and histo- 
rical associations, is Independence Hall, in which the 
Declaration of Independence was signed in July, 1776. 
The panoramic view of the city from the steeple is strik- 
ingly beautiful. 

One of the most stately and magnificent buildings in 
the United States is the Girard College, founded in 
pursuance of tbe will of Stephen Girard, a merchant ol 
the city, who amassed a large fortune and bequeathed it to 
the city for the establishment and support of an institution 
for orphans. The edifice, purely Grecian in style, and 



PHILADELPHIA. 205 

built of white marble, is exceedingly elegant in its appear- 
ance. It is in the form of a parallelogram, with a base- 
ment of steps all round. At each end are eight Corinthian 
columns, which with eleven on each side support a pediment 
and roof. The latter is composed of slabs of marble, 
resembling tiles, and the weight of these alone is about 
one thousand tons. The American Philosophical Society, 
the oldest and most celebrated scientific institution in 
America, was founded in 1743, chiefly through the 
exertions of Benjamin Franklin. It possesses a library 
of 15,000 volumes, and a fine collection of minerals, 
fossils, American antiquities, etc. The Philadelphia 
Library, also founded by the influence of Franklin, contains 
a library of 65,000 volumes. The Franklin Institute, the 
Academy of Natural Sciences, and the Historical Society 
are the most prominent among the numerous other literary 
and scientific institutions. Philadelphia has several 
medical colleges of high repute, among which are the 
University of Pennsylvania, the Jefferson Medical College, 
and ihe College of Physicians. 

The celebrated Fair Mount Waterworks are situated 
on the east bank of the Schuylkill. The water is pumped 
into the reservoirs, which are elevated 100 feet above the 
river, by water power furnished by the same river which 
supplies the water. The reservoirs are capable of con- 
taining 22,000,000 gallons. The mill-rase is 90 feet wide 
and 400 feet long, and furnishes sufficient power to pump 
1,250,000 gallons in 24 hours. The whole is surrounded 
by charming grounds tastefully laid out. 



290 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 



BALTIMORE. 

Baltimore, Maryland, founded in 1729, and named in 
honour of the founder, Lord Baltimore, is one of the four 
great commercial cities of the East. It is beautifully situated 
on a succession of hill slopes and terraces, which rise like 
an amphitheatre from the shores of the Patapsco River, 
about twelve miles from its entrance into Chesapeake 
Bay. From the great number of fine monuments for which 
this city is celebrated, it is called the " Monumental City." 
The foremost of these is the Washington monument, a 
chaste structure of brick cased with white marble. Its 
total height is 212^ feet, inclusive of the colossal statue of 
Washington, sixteen feet high, which surmounts it. There 
are several public fountains, tastefully ornamented, fur- 
nishing, in connection with the city waterworks, a copious 
supply of pure water. There are upwards of 140 churches, 
many of which are elegant and costly structures. The 
Catholic cathedral is 190 feet long, 177 broad, and 127 
feet high, and is said to have the largest organ in the 
United States, with 6000 pipes and 36 stops. 



WASHINGTON. 

Washington City, in the district of Columbia, is the 
political capital of the United States. Its situation on the 
banks of the Potomac River was chosen by Washington, 
and the city was also planned by and named in honour of 
him. Possessing no great commercial or manufacturing 
establishments, it affords a striking contrast to the other 
large and bustling cities of America ; but it is perhaps all 
the better suited to its design — a place for quiet delibera- 






WASHINGTON. 297 

lion. Pennsylvania Avenue, the principal street, is said 
to be the widest in the world. It measures 1 GO feet in 
width, and along the sides of the footpaths are rows of 
trees, which afford an agreeable shade in the heats of 
summer. 

In 1793, "Washington laid the corner-stone of the old 
Capitol, which, with the President's house and Library of 
Congress, was burned in 1814 by the British. In 1818 it 
was rebuilt, and in 1851 the corner-stone of the new 
building was laid by President Fillimore. The edifice is 
now almost twice the size originally intended. It has a 
length of 751 feet, and covers an area of three and a-half 
acres. The whole pile, built of marble in the Corinthian 
style, with its imposing front, handsome portico, and lofty 
dome, is an edifice which would do credit to any city in 
Europe. The rotunda is ninety-five feet in diameter, and 
is lighted from the cupola above, from whence a splendid 
view of the city and country around is obtained. On the 
walls are a series of large pictures, representing scenes in 
American history, painted by native artists. The Senate 
Chamber and the Hall of Representatives are in the wings 
on either side of the central building. The grounds in 
which the Capitol stands are about thirty acres in extent, 
and are embellished by fountains and statuary ; amongst 
the latter is a colossal statue of Washington, in Parian 
marble, by Greenough, which stands on the broad lawn 
before the President's house. 

The President's mansion, or the White House, an 
elegant but not imposing edifice of freestone, is a mile and 
a half west of the Capitol. It is 170 feet long and 8G 
feet deep, and only two stories high. The lawns around 
it contain about twenty acres. The Treasury Department 
is a stone structure 340 feet long and 170 feet wide, 
its east front has forty-two Ionic columns. The Patent 



208 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

Office is one of the largest of all the Government 
edifices. It is built of stone, and when completed will 
cover an entire square. Here is a collection embracing 
models of every machine patented in the United States, 
to which nothing similar is found in any other patent 
office in the world. Also interesting relies of Washington 
and Franklin, as well as an immense and most valuable 
variety of objects of natural history. 

The Smithsonian Institute is a noble endowment of a 
large-minded Englishman, James Smithson, who be- 
queathed the whole of a large estate inherited from his 
father, the first Duke of Northumberland, " to the United 
States of America, to found at Washington, under the 
name of the Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for 
the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men." 
His mother was the heiress of the Hungerfords of Audley, 
so that some of the best blood of England flowed in his 
veins, but he said of himself, " This avails me nothing ; 
the name of Smithson shall survive the memory of man 
when the titles of the Northuniberlands and Percys are 
extinct. The man of science is of no country ; the world 
is his country, and all men his countrymen." The edifice 
is built of red sandstone in the Roman style, is 250 feet 
long, 140 wide, and has nine towers, from 70 to 150 feet 
high. It contains a lecture-room large enough to accom- 
modate 2000 persons, a fine laboratory, a museum full of 
interesting objects, and library of rare and valuable scien- 
tific books. One of its most interesting features is a 
gallery 120 feet in length, containing a large collection of 
paintings, consisting of illustrations of Indian life, and 
portraits of celebrated Indian chiefs. 

The Washington monument stands in New Park, and 
will have, when completed, a circular base 250 feet in 
diameter and 100 feet high, surmounted by a shaft 70 feet 



CINCINNATI. 200 

in diameter and 500 feet high, making a total elevation of 
600 feet; 100 feet greater than that of St. Peter's in 
Rome. Other notable objects are the Navy Yard, City 
Hall, and Columbia College. The Congressional Cemetery, 
in which every member of Congress who dies while a 
member has a monument erected to his memory, is ten 
acres in extent, and is tastefully laid out with trees and 
shrubbery. 

CINCINNATI. 

Cincinnati, Ohio, is the largest city of the Mississippi 
Valley. It is situated on the lower slope of an eminence 
400 feet high on the Ohio River, about 1-50 miles from its 
mouth, and occupies the shore for more than three miles. 
It is a striking instance of the extraordinary and rapid 
development of American cities. In 1800 it was a village 
of about 700 inhabitants, now it is the fifth city of the 
Union. The streets are mostly well lighted and well 
paved, and are of good width. Main Street, the principal 
thoroughfare, is five and a-half miles long. Fifth Street is 
about four miles long, and with its markets presents a 
scene of great bustling and activity. The city, with its 
lines of well-built streets thronging with life, appears to 
great advantage from the summit of the amphitheatre of 
hills which encircle it. 

Cincinnati is famous for its gigantic furniture-manu- 
factories. " One of these," says Mr. William Chambers, 
" employs 250 hands, and turns out, among other articles, 
124,800 chairs per annum ; and another manufactory turns 
out 1000 bedsteads per week, almost every part of the 
work being done by machinery. The manufactories of 
boots and shoes are conducted on a scale scarcely less 
wonderful, one establishment alone consuming annually 



300 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

10,000 sides of sole leather, 40,000 sides of upper leather, 
20,000 sheepskins, 2500 calfskins, 500 lbs. of boot-nails, 
and 600 bushels of shoe-pegs." A peculiar characteristic 
of Cincinnati is its extensive business connected with the 
slaughter of swine and pork-packing. It is the principal 
hog-market in the United States. 500,000 hogs and 
7000 oxen are said to be killed and salted per annum. 

Among the public buildings, the most noted is the 
Cincinnati Observatory — a creditable building, erected 
through the voluntary contributions of the citizens. It is 
furnished with a telescope of great power, which cost 
$10,000. St. Peter's, a Catholic church, is the finest 
building of the kind in the west. The Merchants' Ex- 
change and Mercantile Library Association jointly occupy 
a beautiful and spacious building between Fourth and 
Fifth Streets. The Masonic Temple is an elegant building 
of freestone. The Court House is the largest building in 
the city. There are 110 churches, many of which are 
handsome structures. The Suspension Bridge across the 
Ohio River is the largest structure of the kind in the 
world, being more than 2000 feet longer than that over 
the Niagara, and 540 feet longer than the Menai Bridge, 
in Wales. 



CHICAGO. 

In the wonderful rapidity of its growth, Chicago, 
Illinois, surpasses every city of the Union. From a mere 
trading port in 1831, and a village of 5000 inhabitants 
in 1840, it has risen to a position of great wealth, popula- 
tion, and commercial importance. Its grain trade is 
greater than that of any other city in the world. It is 
situated on the shore of Lake Michigan, is well laid out 



CHICAGO. 301 

with wide streets crossing each other at right angles, and 
contains many magnificent buildings of brick and stone. 
Among the most remarkable public edifices are, the Court 
House, the Merchants' Exchange, the Marine Hospital, 
and the Medical College. The city is built upon a plain, 
and, until 1856, most of the streets were planked ; and 
the buildings then erected were, owing to the soft and 
watery nature of the soil, generally without cellars. In 
that year was commenced a system of raising the business 
portion of the city four feet above its former level, and ail 
new buildings are erected to correspond. Many of the 
buildings, however, still remain on the old level, though 
the streets have been raised. The process of raising the 
houses to the new level is one of great ingenuity and 
interest. Buildings of brick are raised several feet by 
the aid of screws, not only without injury, but without 
the interruption of business. "When a hotel, or a block of 
buildings, is to be lifted up, a thousand or two thousand 
screws are placed beneath it, and little by little the house 
rises. Nothing is changed within, business being transacted 
as usual. One building, the estimated weight of which 
was 35,000 tons, was raised four feet five inches so carefully 
that not a crack in the masonry appeared. 

The river, which is but a few feet below the level of 
the streets, requires numerous drawbridges, which are 
among the curiosities of the place, being constructed to 
turn on a pivot in the centre. The immense grain-houses 
are situated on the banks of the river. Those of the 
Illinois Central Railway can receive and load grain at the 
rate of 24,000 busbels per Lour. Chicago has an immense 
cattle-trade. Its magnitude may be inferred from the 
dimensions of a cattle-market opened in the autumn of 
1865. This market, fitted up with pens, substantially 
floored with wood, and lighted with gas, covers an extent 



302 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

of forty-seven acres. The whole space devoted to its uses, 
including a large hotel, offices, etc., is 500 acres, making 
it perhaps the largest and most complete market in the 
world. Every railway that enters the city has a separate 
cattle-station in the market, so that the animals are 
brought or taken away without passing through the streets. 
Chicago owes much of its prosperity to its advantageous 
position at the head of the navigation on the great chain of 
lakes. The commerce carried on with Buffalo by means of 
thousands of vessels is very extensive. 



ST. LOUIS. 

St. Louis, Missouri, is situated on the Mississippi 
River, stretching for about five miles along its banks. 
The city is well laid out, many of the streets being from 
60 to 100 feet wide. The principal public buildings are 
the Court House, a large and magnificent structure ol 
limestone, with four fronts and handsome cupola; the 
Custom House, constructed of Missouri marble ; the Mer- 
cantile Library, containing over 14,000 volumes ; the St. 
Louis University; and the United States Arsenal. St. 
Louis is literally the centre of steamboat navigation on 
the Mississippi. The river, from St. Louis to its mouth, 
is termed the " Lower Mississippi," and is navigated by 
a class of large and magnificent steamers, making St. 
Louis their upper terminus. The river above the city is 
termed the " Upper Mississippi ;" this, with the Missouri, 
the Illinois, and other numerous branches, are navigated 
by a smaller class of boats, all of which make St. Louis 
their lower terminus. There are also other lines running 
to the Ohio River ; St. Louis is, therefore, the centre of a 



NEW ORLEANS. 303 

vast trade ; and the river traffic centring- at this point is 
immense. The "levee," for miles, is usually crowded 
with hundreds of steamers receiving or discharging their 
cargoes ; which, with the thousands of busy draymen, 
presents a scene of activity not to be witnessed elsewhere. 



NEW ORLEANS. 

New Orleans, the commercial emporium of the Southern 
States, is built upon a bend or crescent of the Mississippi, 
ninety-four miles from its mouth. The city is two to four 
feet below the level of high water, and protected from over- 
flow by an embankment or levee. New Orleans has com- 
mercial advantages equal to those of any city in the Union. 
Into its marts are poured, on the bosom of rivers, 
whose united navigation is estimated to be 33,000 miles, 
the products of fifteen fertile States. It is the chief cotton 
mart of America, and the wharves are crowded with hun- 
dreds of ships from every part of the world, laden with 
every variety of foreign and domestic products. Steam- 
boats of the largest class arrive and depart hourly, while a 
thousand to fifteen hundred " fiatboats " may be frequently 
seen lying at the levee, presenting a most extraordinary 
scene of bustling activity. 

The Custom House is the largest structure in the 
United States. It is built of granite, and has four fronts 
of 334, 310, 297, and 252 feet each. The chief business 
apartment is 116 feet long by 90 broad, and has 50 win- 
dows. The United States Branch Mint is also an impos- 
ing structure, with a front of 282 feet. The St. Charles is 
one of the finest hotels in the Union. The streets of New 
Orleans have the spaciousness and beauty so characteristic 



304 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OP AMERICA. 

of Southern cities, being wide, well paved, and regularly 
laid out, generally crossing each other at right angles. The 
broadest is Canal Street, which is 190^ feet wide, having 
a grass plot 25 feet wide running its entire length, with 
shade trees on either side. The many elegant private 
dwellings are rendered pleasant by the grateful shade of 
tropical foliage, including the magnolia, orange, lemon, and 
myrtle. New Orleans is noted for its institutions of a 
literary and charitable character. The Opera House is a 
most superb structure. The Anatomical Museum contains 
a large and valuable collection, and the Medical College, 
to which it is attached, bears a high repute. The markets, 
some of which are very extensive, are noted for their 
extreme neatness and cleanliness. The lower portion of 
the city, below Canal Street, is mostly French. In this 
part the French language and customs mostly prevail. 

The arrangement of the cemeteries is unique. Each is 
enclosed within a brick wall, in which are arched cavities, 
or " ovens," as they are called, which are just large enough 
to admit a coffin, and are raised, tier upon tier, to a height 
of ten or twelve feet, with a thickness of ten feet. The 
whole enclosure is divided into plots covered with tombs. 



MOBILE. 

Mobile, the principal city and port of Alabama, is 
situated on the west bank oi the Mobile River, just above 
its entrance into Mobile Bay, thirty miles from the Gulf of 
Mexico. The city is built on a plain fifteen feet above the 
river ; it commands a beautiful prospect of the bay, the 
elevation beinjx sufficient for convenient drainage. The 



SAN FRANCISCO. 305 

streets are wide, and shaded with rows of trees. The city- 
is supplied with spring water brought from a distance of 
several miles. The principal buildings are the United 
States Marine Hospital and the City Hospital. It also 
contains an institution for the blind, two orphan asylums, 
a fine theatre, several academies, and Spring Hill College, 
with a library of 7000 volumes. 

The city is noted for its magnificent and costly resi- 
dences. Mobile ranks next to New Orleans as a cotton 
mart and place of export, and is the natural outlet of the 
best cotton region of the South. The adjacent villages, 
situated on a stretch of sand hills, afford a delightful and 
healthy retreat from the sickness which sometimes pre- 
vails during the summer months, and it is somewhat 
remarkable that, though the yellow fever may be raging 
with great virulence in the city, a few miles outside it 
never originates, and persons afflicted with it rapidly 
recover. 



SAN FRANCISCO. 

San Francisco, California, is situated on the shore of 
the magnificent bay from which it derives its name. It is 
not of recent origin, having been founded in 1776. Till 
the year 1847, when the discovery of gold in California 
was made, it was an unpretending little village ; that 
event has been the means of transforming it into a great 
commercial metropolis. It is now the centre of an immense 
trade, and being the only water connection with the great 
interior valley, as well as of easy communication with 
Asia, its commercial advantages are very great. It is well 
laid out with regular streets, and till recently the houses 
were mostly built of framework ; but the destructive con- 
flagrations which have several times laid the city in ashes 

20 



306 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

have induced the use of "brick and stone, and most of the 
larger buildings are well built and fireproof. It now 
covers an area of eight or nine square miles. Among the 
principal buildings are the City Hall, Custom House and 
Post Office, Marine Hospital, First Presbyterian Church 
and Baptist Church. 



RICHMOND. 

Richmond, the capital of Virginia, is situated on the 
line of the great railway route from the North-eastern to 
the Southern States. The city, imposingly elevated on an 
eminence, and overlooking the valley of James River, 
appears much larger than it really is. The State Capitol 
stands on Shockhoe Hill, commanding a magnificent view 
of the beautiful valley of the James. It contains a marble 
bust of La Fayette, and a fine marble statue of Washing- 
ton, by the French sculptor, Hondin. The late civil war, 
however, has invested this building with its chief interest, 
for it was here that for four stormy years sat the grim 
legislators who composed the Confederate Congress, await- 
ing with stern patience the final success which so often, 
but so illusively dawned. Among the other prominent 
public buildings are the City Hall, Penitentiary, and 
Custom House. The rapids or falls of James River, 
extending six miles above Richmond, afford abundance of 
water power, which was rendered available during the war 
in the manufacture of arms and munitions. 



CHARLESTON. 
Charleston, South Carolina, is one of the most ancient 
of American cities. Its foundations were laid in 1672. At 
an early period it received large .accessions pf French 



CHARLESTON. 307 

Huguenots, from which have sprung many of the families 
of Charleston. It is situated between the Ashley and 
Cooper rivers, which, uniting below the town, form a 
spacious harbour, with an average width of about two 
miles, and a length of seven miles. The ground on which 
the city is built is only eight or nine feet above the level of 
the harbour at high tide, which here rises about six feet, 
flowing by the city with a strong current, thus contribut- 
ing to its salubrity. The city is regularly built, and 
extends about three miles in length, and one and a half in 
breadth. 

The streets, many of which are sixty to seventy feet 
wide, are lined with trees. The buildings, mostly of brick, 
are some of them very elegant; and beautiful villas 
adorned with verandahs, reaching from the ground to the 
tops of the houses, buried in the rich foliage of orange 
trees, magnolias, and palmettoes, give an air of luxuriance 
and elegance to the city. 

The bay is completely land-locked, and possesses a 
military strength of which ample proofs were given during 
the ever-memorable bombardment lasting through 1863 
and 1864, which the city and forts underwent from the 
Federal monitors and ironsides. Fort Moultrie commands 
the entrance to the harbour, and is rendered famous by the 
naval action of 1776, when her guns beat off and almost 
destroyed the armament of Sir Peter Parker. Fort 
Sumter, whose fame now eclipses that of all the others, 
stands on an artificial island within the harbour, about 
three and a half miles from the city. The walls,, which 
come close to the edge of the water, are built of concrete 
masonry. The fort cost about $1,000,000. 



!08 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 



SAVANNAH. 

Savannah, Georgia, is situated on the Savannah River, 
eighteen miles from the Atlantic coast. The city was 
founded as early as 1732 by General Oglethorpe, but has, 
like most southern cities, been of comparatively slow 
growth. It is regularly built; the streets, which are 
mostly unpaved, are of great width, and lined with trees, 
Broad Street, Bay Street, and others, having four rows of 
trees, and a double carriage-way, with broad walks on the 
outside, and a promenade between. There are many 
public buildings of considerable size and elegance, among 
them the City Exchange, the State Arsenal, Oglethorpe 
Hall, and the Lyceum. There are also a number of literary 
and charitable institutions, and some handsome churches. 
In Monument Square is a fine Doric obelisk, 100 feet high, 
erected to the memories of Generals Greene and Pulaski ; 
and a second monument has been erected in Chippewa 
Square to the latter General, who fell while gallantly 
attacking the city in the year 1779, when it was in the 
possession of the British. 

Near the city is the beautiful cemetery of Bonaventure, 
originally a private estate, and laid out in broad avenues, 
which cross each other. These avenues are now grand 
forest aisles, lined with magnificent oak trees of full 
growth and great size ; their dense leafage mingling over- 
head, and their huge lower branches trailing on the 
ground, bent down by the weight of the heavy festoons of 
Spanish moss which hang from them. A more beautiful 
resting-place for the dead can scarcely be conceived than 
amid this solemn forest. It has been charmingly described 
in the following lines : — 



SAVANNAH. 309 



"Along a corridor I tread, 

High over-arched by' ancient trees, 
Where, like a tapestry o'erhead, 

The grey mossfQoats upon the breeze. 
A wavy breeze which kissed to-day 

Tallulah's falls of flashing foam, 
And sported in Toccoa's spray, 

Brings music from its mountain home. 

" The clouds are floating o'er the sky, 

And cast at times a fitful gloom, 
As o'er our hearts dark memories fly, 

Cast deeper shades on Tatnall's tomb ; 
While, glimmering onward to the sea, 

With scarce a rippling wave at play, 
A line of silver through the lea, 

The river stretches far away." 



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CHAPTER 2L 



NATURAL CUEIOSITIES AND OBJECTS OF INTEREST TO 
TOURISTS. 



WATERFALLS. 

The world-renowned Niagara Falls are situated on the 
Niagara River, 20 miles from its junction with Lake Erie, 
and about 14 miles above its junction with Lake Ontario. 
The river thus divides a portion of the State of New 
York from Canada ; and the falls lie within the territory 
both of Great Britain and the United States. The two 
falls — the British or Horseshoe, and the American — are 
divided by Goat Island, a well- wooded piece of land termi- 
nating in a precipice. The total width from shore to 
shore, following the bend of the fall, is about three-quarters 
of a mile. The width of the Horseshoe Fall is about 1900 
feet, and that of the American Fall about 950 feet. 
" The waters for which Niagara is the outlet, cover an 
area of 150,000 square miles — floods so grand and in- 
exhaustible, as to be utterly unconscious of the loss 
of the ninety millions of tons they your every hour 
through succeeding centuries, over these stupendous pre- 
cipices." Sixteen miles from Lake Erie the current 
narrows, and begins to descend with great velocity. 
This is the commencement of the rapids, which continue 
for about one mile, the waters rolling in swells as they 



312 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OP AMERICA. 

rush swiftly down over their rocky bed, accomplishing in 
this distance a fall of 52 feet. The rapids terminate below 
in two great cataracts, the precipitous descent of which is 
164 feet on the American side, and 158 on the Canadian. 
The waters sweep down the rapids with such force that, on 
falling over the edge of the precipice into the deep boiling 
pool at the base, they form a grand curve, clear of the per- 
pendicular wall. The space between this sheet of falling 
water and the wall widens near the bottom, the strata being 
hollowed out by the continual action of the spray. A cave 
is thus formed, into which persons can enter behind the fall. 
Among the great waterfalls of the globe that of Niagara 
stands pre-eminent for the enormous volume of water that 
is carried over so high a precipice. There are falls which 
descend from greater heights, but the sublimity of Niagara 
is in the vast power displayed by a mighty current descend- 
ing impetuously first by rushing down the long inclined 
plane of the rapids, and finally plunging in one unbroken 
vertical sheet into the deep abyss below. 

" It comes like an eternity, 
As if to sweep down all tilings in its track, 
Charming the eye with dread — a matchless cataract." 

The dull, thundering, unceasing roar of the falling waters 
is sometimes heard as far as Toronto, 46 miles distant. It 
is supposed by Sir Charles Lyell that the fall is receding 
from the action of the water at the rate of one foot a year. 
Below the falls, the river runs between perpendicular 
cliffs for three or four miles, in a channel from 300 to 800 
feet wide, with great force and impetuosity, now ruffled by 
rapids, now eddying in whirlpools, till it finally flows into 
Lake Ontario. Between the falls and Queenstown occur 
two separate rapids ; at the head of the first, the river is 
spanned by a magnificent wire suspension bridge, 800 feet 



WATERFALLS. 313 

in length and 230 feet above the water. An angle in the 
river near the bridge causes a reflex in the current, which 
forms a number of eddies called the " Whirlpool," more 
remarkable for the heaping up of the waters in the centre 
of the river, through its impetus, than for any great vio- 
lence of the whirlpools themselves. 

The falls of the Connecticut are a series of rapids ex- 
tending about a mile along the base of Tall Mountain, in 
New Hampshire. The river flows along so narrow a defile 
that it seems as if it was possible to leap across it, and the 
water, which is a dense mass of foam, rushes through the 
chasm with such velocity, that in striking the rocks below, 
it is forced back upon itself for a considerable distance. 
There is no perpendicular fall, but the river falls 50 feet in 
half a mile. 

The Silver Cascade, in New Hampshire, is a most 
charming waterfall, seen at a distance of two miles babbling 
down the mountain side 800 feet above the valley. 

Glen's Falls, in the Upper Hudson, nine miles from 
Lake George, New York, consist of the rapid descent of 
the river over a precipice of 75 feet. The scenery around 
is rugged and wild. 

About 130 miles from New York City, among the 
Catskill Mountains, are some beautiful cascades, known as 
the Katterskill Falls. The first cascade has a fall of 175 
feet, and the second descends 75 feet. For the distance 
of a mile the rivulet, which is a branch of the Katterskill 
Creek, tumbles over the rocks in a picturesque manner, 
till it reaches the main stream. Fennimore Cooper, in his 
" Pioneer," has thus charmingly described these falls: — 
" The water comes croaking and winding among the rocks, 
first so slow that a trout might swim in it, then starting 
and running like any creature that wanted to make a fair 
spring, till it gets to where the mountain divides like the 



31-1- DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

cleft foot of a deer, leaving a deep hollow for the brook to 
tumble into. The first pitch is nigh 200 feet, and the 
water looks like flakes of snow before it touches the bot- 
tom, and then gathers itself together again for a new start, 
and, may be, flutters over 50 feet of flat rock before it falls 
for another 100 feet, when it jumps from shelf to shelf, 
first running this way and that way, striving to get out of 
the hollow, till it finally gets to the plain." In the winter, 
the falling spray of the Katterskills is frozen into a thou- 
sand fantastic shapes, all glowing like the prism in the 
clear cold sunlight. The American poet, Bryant, has 
prettily set in verse the charms of the falls : — 

" Midst greens and shades the Katterskill leaps, 

From cliffs where the wood-flower clings; 
All summer he moistens his verdant steeps 

"With the light spray of the mountain springs ; 
And he shakes the woods on the mountain side, 
When they drip with the rains of the autumn tide. 

" But when, in the forest bare and old, 

The blast of December calls, 
He builds in the starlight, clear and cold, 

A palace of ice where his torrent falls, 
"With turret and arch, and fretwork fair, 
And pillars clear as the summer air." 

Fifteen miles north of Utica, in New York, there are a 
series of cascades and rapids on West Canada Creek, a 
tributary of the Mohawk, extending over two miles, and 
known as the Trenton Falls. The river has cut a narrow 
channel in the solid limestone rock to a depth varying from 
100 to 150 feet deep, forming a clean limestone trough, 
through which runs in summer a narrow stream of water, 
almost as black as ink. Down this gorge, with its perpen- 
dicular sides of solid rock, the water takes a succession of 



WATERFALLS. 315 

leaps of from 8 to 100 feet. The great charm in these falls 
is not in the body of water, but in the wildness of the 
scenery around. One of the falls — named Sherman's Fall, 
in memory of the Rev. James Sherman — has formed an 
immense excavation, and is every year forcing off large 
slabs of the rock, against which a portion of the water is 
incessantly rushing. The scene varies much according to 
the size of the stream, but it is difficult to say whether the 
glen is more beautiful when there is little or much water. 

The Genesee Falls, at Rochester, New York, have three 
perpendicular pitches and two rapids, the entire descent 
being 268 feet. The first fall is one of 96 feet, and the 
ledge of the precipice breaks the water into three distinct 
sheets. Below this fall the river is broad and deep, with 
occasional rapids. The second fall is 20 feet, and the 
third has a descent of 105 feet. Below these are a number 
of rapids, which reach a considerable distance. Higher up 
the river, in Alleghany county, there arc three falls of 60, 
90, and 110 feet, within a distance of two miles. The 
water rushes through a rocky gorge, the walls of which 
are 400 feet high. 

The Cohoes Falls, on the Mohawk River, New York, 
are noted for their picturesque beauty. The water has a 
perpendicular descent of nearly 90 feet, and in the autumn, 
when the river is full, forms a grand cascade. 

" At first an azure sheet, it rushes broad ; 
Then whitening by degrees, as prone it falls, 
Dash'd in a cloud of foam, it sends aloft 
A hoary mist, and forms a ceaseless shower." 

The Passaic Falls, near Patterson, New Jersey, form, 
when the river is full, an imposing scene. They are 
70 feet in height, and the surrounding scenery is wild 
and romantic. 



oiG DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

The picturesque Falls of St. Anthony are on the Mis- 
sissippi, in the State of Minnesota. They were discovered 
in 1680 by Lonis Hennepin, and named in honour of his 
patron saint, Anthony. The falls are less celebrated for 
their magnitude than for their accompaniments of wood 
and rock scenery. The Mississippi is more than 600 
yards wide above the falls, and the entire descent is 
58 feet, including the rapids. The water falls 20 feet 
in two perpendicular sheets on either sides of an island 
of white sandstone, which divides the stream as at Niagara. 
The greater portion of the water passes on the western 
side, which is 310 yards wide. The rapids below extend 
several hundred yards, are very broad, and are divided into 
numerous channels by sandstone islands, gigantic blocks 
of which are strewn in grotesque confusion at the base of 
lofty walls of dazzling whiteness. These rocks and islands 
assume numerous fantastic shapes, and are thickly wooded. 

The Minnehaha, or the Falls of the Laughing Water, 

" Flash and gleam among the oak trees, 
Laugh and leap into the valley," 

near St. Anthony, in Minnesota. Half hidden in the 
forest, a small rivulet gently glides over the bluff into an 
amphitheatre, and forms the graceful waterfall. " It has 
but little of the c cataract's thunder.' Niagara symbolizes 
the sublime, St. Anthony the picturesque, Minnehaha the 
beautiful. The fall is about 60 feet, presenting a para- 
bolic curve, which drops without deviation to the lower 
level, when the stream goes on its way rejoicing, curling 
along in laughing, childish glee at the graceful feat it has 
performed in bounding over the precipice." Longfellow, in 
his sweet song of " Hiawatha," has immortalized these falls. 
The great Falls of the Missouri, the largest after 
Niagara, are situated in the north-west part of the Terri- 



WATERFALLS. 



tory of Bacotah. The river previously makes its way 
along the grand passage known as the Gates of the Rocky 
Mountains, and at the point of the falls makes a rapid 
descent of 357 feet in 16 miles. The first fall met with in 




MINNEHAHA FALLS. 



ascending the stream is 26 feet, the second is 27 feet, the 
third is 19 feet, and the fourth and highest fall is 87 feet. 
Between each of these cascades, as well as below them, are 
many rapids, and the surrounding scenery is sublime. 



318 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

The "White Water Cataracts, near Jocasse, in South 
Carolina, are chiefly remarkable for their picturesqueness, 
and in the variety and beauty of the surrounding scenery. 

Toccoa Falls, near Clarksville, Georgia, is a narrow- 
stream of water which, after babbling down the mountain's 
side, falls over a perpendicular rock a height of 186 feet, 
resembling a silver ribbon hung gracefully over the face of 
the rock, and waving to and fro with the breath of the wind. 

Near the last-mentioned falls are the Cataracts of 
Tallulah. These, with the wild and romantic scenery 
amid which they are situated, are among the most im- 
posing waterfall scenery in the United States. The Tal- 
lulah River is a stream which rushes through a chasm in 
the Blue Ridge Mountains, 1000 feet in depth. Along the 
rocky and uneven bed of this deep abyss the river frets 
and foams with ever-varying course. Now it flows in 
sullen majesty through a deep and romantic glen, em- 
bowered in the foliage of the trees which here and there 
spring from the rocky edges of the chasm walls ; and then 
it rushes with accelerated motion, breaking fretfully over 
protruding rocks, and uttering harsh murmurs as it verges 
a precipice — 

" Where, collected all 
In one impetuous torrent, down the steep 
It thundering shoots." 

The larger of these cataracts are called the Lodore, the 
Tempesta, the Oceana, and the Serpentine. There are 
also many smaller ones. 

Amicalolah Falls, or the Falls of the Tumbling "Water, 
and the Falls of the Eastatoria, are also in Georgia. 
The former are a succession of cataracts and cascades, the 
greatest not exceeding 60 feet, though the total fall of the 
torrent in 400 yards is more than 6000 feet. 

In the Yosemite Valley, in California — a dell of match- 



CAVES. 819 

less cliffs and cascades — are five waterfalls, one of which is 
2000 feet high. The valley is a chasm in the Sierra 
Nevada, bounded on all sides by rocky walls, from 4000 to 
4500 feet in height. The Cascade of the Rainbow, so called 
from the beautiful colours which, in the sunlight, adorn the 
mist floating round it, is 940 feet high, and though the 
water is 70 feet wide in the summer, yet, seen at a 
few miles' distance, it looks like a white streak in the rock. 
Four miles further up the valley, amid scenery of the 
most romantic beauty and grandeur, are the Great Falls of 
the Yosemite, called by the Indians " Cholook." This 
fall is believed to be the highest in the world. The 
stream, 80 feet wide, leaps down 2063 feet, in three falls, 
of which the first is 1300 feet high, the second 250 feet, 
and the third 450 feet. Though the body of falling water 
is so great, it is lost in spray before it reaches the bottom. 
Two other cascades, the Vernal and the Nevada, are in 
the same valley: the former, with a fall of 350 feet, is 
surmounted with large evergreen trees ; the latter is 700 
feet high, and strikes a projecting ledge of rock half-way, 
which causes it to dash into spray and mist. 



CAVES, NATURAL BRIDGES, Etc. 
The Mammoth Cave, in Kentucky, the largest known 
cave in the world, is an object of the greatest interest to 
travellers. It is said to have been penetrated by ex- 
plorers to the distance of ten miles. The passages of this 
great cavern are in the aggregate 150 miles in length, and 
it has 256 known chambers. The thermometer stands 
constantly at 59° Fahr. Among the most noted chambers 
js the " Methodist Church," semicircular in form, with a 
natural pulpit. About fifty years ago the place was used 
for religious worship, and occasionally now services are 



320 



DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 



held within it. The Gothic Avenue, reached by a flight 
of stairs 40 feet wide, 15 feet high, and two miles long, 
leads to the Gothic Chapel, 80 feet long by 50 wide. 
Columns of immense size block up the two ends, and 
two rows of smaller pillars extend the entire length. 




GOTHIC CHAPEL, HAiliTOTH CAVE. 



"When lighted up, the scene is one of surprising 
grandeur. The Star Chamber, when seen without 
lights, reveals perfectly the meaning of visible darkness. 
"We seemed to feel the dense blackness against our eye- 



CAVES. 321 

balls," said a traveller describing the cave, " an object, 
however near, was not in the faintest degree visible. 
When the chamber was lighted np, we seemed to be in a 
deep rock-walled pit, gazing np at the starry firmament." 
The stalactites and stalagmites throughout the cave are of 
great beauty and of immense size. A river of fresh and 
pure water runs through it which is navigable by boats ; 
and in it are found fish which are quite white and eyeless, 
and others which, though possessed of eyes, are yet 
blind. 

The Wyandotte Cave, in Indiana, is almost as won- 
derful a place as the Mammoth Cave. It is several miles 
in length, and is divided into magnificent chambers and 
galleries, glittering with stalactites and other calcareous 
concretions. Epsom Salts Cave, in the same State, situated 
on the side of a hill, 400 feet from the base, is remarkable 
for a wonderful white column, 30 feet high and 15 in 
diameter, beautifully fluted. The figure of an Indian^ 
rudely painted on the rock, is also to be seen. Epsom 
salts, nitre, and gypsum, are the principal components of 
the floor and walls of this cave. 

Weir's Cave, in Virginia, 2500 feet in length, is cele- 
brated for its rare beauty. The interior, with its brilliant 
stalactites, when lighted up, almost realizes the enchant- 
ments described by Eastern story-tellers. The Big Salt- 
petre Cave in Missouri has not been fully explored, but is 
thought to surpass all others in extent and beauty. It- 
contains long galleries and chambers, rising to the height 
of 100 feet, and from 150 to 200 feet in width. 

Fountain Cave, of Minnesota, near St. Paul, has a 
passage way 25 feet high and about the same width, 
leading into a vast hall of white sandstone more than 1000 
feet in length, through which runs a rivulet of clear and 
cold water. 



322 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OP AMERICA. 

The Alabaster Cave, in California, was discovered in 
1860 by some labourers while quarrying limestone. The 
cave has two chambers, one about 100 feet long by 25 feet 
wide, the other 200 feet long by 100 feet wide. Both these 
again have numerous recesses and galleries. A scene of 
great magnificence is presented on entering. Millions of 
precious stones seem to be sparkling on the walls, shining 
pendants reach from ceiling to floor, some tapering to a 
point, some tubular, some clear as crystal and of a bluish 
tinge. In the second chamber is the " chapel," with 
" belfry" and "pulpit," the latter formed by droppings 
from the rock above, catching on a ledge of rock and then 
rising, spreading, and folding over in a most graceful 
manner. 

Nikojack Cave, in Georgia, extends into the Lookout 
mountain. It is entered by a portal 160 feet wide and 60 
feet high ; through this passes a stream, up which the 
visitor may be boated. The water of this stream is ex- 
ceedingly cold, and is always flowing. The cave is some- 
times so narrow that it will barely allow the boat or 
canoe to pass. It has been explored a distance of seven 
miles. 

The remarkable channels cut by some of the rivers 
through ranges of hills are among the most picturesque 
features of the country. 

The Hudson's passage through the highlands of New 
York, is a landscape of great magnificence and beauty. 
The different spurs of mountain ranges meet here, and about 
upon the river in precipices from 5 to 1500 feet in height. 
Foliage covers them from base to summit, and the river 
below flows on its way in abrupt curves, with a sombre 
dark-green shadow upon it. One of the grandest moun- 
tains of this highland group is Cronest, 1428 feet in 
height, which — 



CHANNELS. 323 

11 Like a monarch, stands, 
Crown' d with a single star, 
Where Hudson's waves o'er silvery sands 
Wind through, the hills afar." 

The Delaware Water Gap is a gorge among the Kitta- 
linny Mountains, through which the Delaware makes its 
way in magnificent style . The cliffs rise perpendicularly 
from 1000 to 1200 feet. 

Tuckerman's Ravine, in New Hampshire, is a long deep 
glen with frowning walls, often quite inaccessible. It is 
filled, hundreds of feet deep, with the snow which falls in 
winter, through which a brook silently makes its way in 
the summer, gradually widening its channel, till a grand 
snow cave is formed, which was found one year to be 40 
feet high, 84 feet wide, and 180 feet long, the snow arch 
being 20 feet thick. 

The Flume, also in New Hampshire, is a narrow gorge 
only a few feet in width, and from 70 to 100 feet in height, 
through which flows a narrow stream. 

At the gates of the Rocky Mountains, in Dacotah 
Territory, the Missouri River passes through a series of bold 
chasms for a length of six miles, "the giant rocks rising 
perpendicularly to an elevation of 1200 feet, and the dark 
waters washing the base of these huge walls so closely that 
not a foothold is anywhere to be found. It is a ghostly 
gorge on the sunniest day, but when its habitual gloom is 
deepened by the shadow of a stormy sky, it grows painfully 
oppressive." 

Among the other channels of note are — the passage of 
the Potomac through the Blue Ridge at Harper's Ferry, 
famous for its picturesque mountain scenery, and worth, 
said Jefferson, " a voyage across the Atlantic to see ; 
the deep canon of the Red River, on the north-west frontier 
of Texas ; and the Cascades, where the Columbia River 



324 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

breaks through the Cascade range on the boundary between 
Washington Territory and Oregon. 

The celebrated Natural Bridge of Virginia, situated 
63 miles from "White Sulphur Springs, is the most re- 
markable of this interesting class of curiosities. Its span 
is almost 90 feet ; and the middle of the arch is 45 feet 
in perpendicular thickness, which increases to 60 at its 
juncture with the vast abutments. The bridge, which is 
covered with soil, supporting shrubs of various sizes, is 
210 feet high, and 60 feet wide. Across it passes a public 
coach-road, and Cedar Creek, with its pleasant rippling 
waters, makes its way through the ravine below. 

A natural bridge in Alabama is described by Professor 
Tuomey as rivalling that of Virginia. It has a span of 
120 feet, and its height is 70 feet. In California there are 
two remarkable bridges, having immense arches, whose 
surfaces appear as if carved into clusters of beautiful fruits 
and flowers, doubtless the result of volcanic action at some 
remote period. The largest of these is 20 feet high and 
80 wide. In Kentucky also there is a natural bridge 30 
feet high, with a span of 60 feet, located amidst delightful 
scenery. 

The Pictured Rocks in Michigan are composed of sand- 
stone of various colours, and worn by the wind and waves 
into resemblances of ruined temples and castles. One 
very striking object is the Doric rock, a colonnade of four 
round pillars, the diameter of which is from 3 to 7 feet. 
Their height is 40 feet, and they support an entablature 
8 feet thick and 30 feet across. These rocks extend a 
distance of about 12 miles, and rise 300 feet above the 
water. In Dacotah Territory near the head waters of the 
White Earth River is a valley which looks as if it had sunk 
away leaving standing all over it thousands of prismatic 
and columnar masses, frequently capped with irregular 



NATURAL BRIDGES, ETC. 325 

pyramids, stretching up to a height of from 100 to 200 
feet or more. 

The Profile Rock, or " Old Man of the Mountain," is 
a mountain in New Hampshire, which has a well-defined 
profile of the human face. The mass of rock forming it 
is 80 feet in height, and half a mile from the pass below, 
from which the profile is seen. In New Marlborough, 
Massachusetts, a rock of 30 or 40 tons is so nicely balanced 
that the finger may set it swinging. The Peaks of Otter in 
Virginia are famous mountain heights, the highest of 
which rises abruptly 4200 feet above the plain. 

A number of cavities or depressions in the surface of 
the ground, called sink-holes, are found in various parts of 
the Union. In Florida one called the Great Sink is a 
large basin which receives the drainings of the group of 
hills, by which it is surrounded ; the waters disappearing 
through the sink into the earth. In Kentucky are found 
several of these extraordinary natural curiosities, mostly in 
the shape of inverted cones, from 60 to 100 feet in depth, 
and from 60 to 300 feet wide at the top. Their sides and 
bottoms are usually covered with willows and aquatic 
productions, and the sound of waters can often be heard 
flowing under them. Streams of considerable size dis- 
appear in several places, and afterwards rise again ; one 
spring near Mumfordsville in the same State, rises and 
falls 12 or 15 inches every 24 hours ; and another, called 
Sinking Creek, disappears in the earth through a sink- 
hole, and does not reappear for a distance of five miles. 
Another sink-hole in the same vicinity has been descended 
275 feet, by means of a rope, without finding bottom. 

A great natural wonder of the vegetable world is the 
mammoth tree in California. A grove of 427 trees, the 
largest of which are 30 feet in diameter, and 300 feet in 
height, is in Mariposa County. It is the largest species of 



326 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OP AMERICA. 

tree in the world, and this is the largest collection. The 
grove is about twenty miles from the Yosemite Valley, and 
about 4500 feet high on the western slope of the Sierra 
Nevada. When the traveller enters the grove he sees on 
all sides of him these huge giants of the forest, varying from 
20 to 34 feet in diameter, and from 275 to 325 feet in height. 
The grove covers a space half a mile wide and three- 
quarters of a mile long. 1 , There is one tree 34 feet in 
diameter; two trees of 33 feet; thirteen between 25 and 33 
feet; thirty-six between 20 and 25 feet; and eighty-two 
between 15 and 20 feet. One very large tree has fallen, 
and a considerable portion of it has been burned ; but ap- 
pearances indicate that it was nearly 40 feet in diameter, 
and 400 feet high. The mammoth tree is found only in a 
few small groves, of which six or seven are known, though 
probably there are others in unexplored parts of the Sierra 
Nevada. The Calaveras Mammoth Grove was the first 
discovered, and attracts the greatest number of visitors. 
There are in this grove ten trees 30 feet in diameter, and 
eighty-two between 15 and 30. One of the trees, which 
is down, must have been 450 feet high, and 40 feet in 
diameter. The " Horseback Ride," one of the notabilities 
of the place, is a hollow tree, which a man on horseback 
can ride through. One tree which was stripped of its 
bark for a height of over 100 feet, continued green and 
flourishing two and a-half years, and some of its branches 
remained green seven years later. 

Some of the larger trees have been ascertained to be 
two thousand years old; and many of the smaller ones 
will still flourish for the next thousand years. Many 
of the older trees are hollow, and one in the Calaveras 
Grove, called " Uncle Tom's Cabin," has an open space 
under it of more than 12 feet square. The largest trees 
seem to end abruptly at the top, having been broken off 



MAMMOTH TREE GROVES. 327 

by the snow, which often falls to a great depth upon the 
Sierra Nevada. Occasionally two or three trees may fee 
seen which are united at the ground, although they may 
have been 20 feet apart when young. 

In 1854, one of the largest trees, 92 feet in circum- 
ference, and 800 feet high, was cut down. Five men 
worked fcwenty-two days in cutting through it with large 
augers. On the stump, which has been smoothed offj 
there have been dancing-parties and theatrical perform- 
ances ; and, for a time, a newspaper, called " The Big- 
Tree Bulletin," was printed there. A portion of the 
bark of this tree to the height of 116 feet is now in the 
Crystal Palace, Sydenham. It is put together in its original 
form on a framework of wood, and is 31 feet in diameter 
at the base. The bark is 18 inches thick. The rings of 
this tree were counted, and its age was variously estimated, 
according to the different methods of counting, at from 
1900 to 3000 years. 

Saratoga Springs, situated in the State of New York, 
39 miles north from Albany, is the most popular watering- 
place in America, and one of the most celebrated in the 
world. It is visited by persons from all countries, and 
the constant stream of visitors arriving and departing 
imparts to the place a scene of great gaiety and bustle. 
The springs are quite varied as to chemical constituents 
and medicinal properties. Congress Spring is the one 
most celebrated, and its waters are bottled and sent to 
various parts of the world. 

Lebanon Springs are situated in the State of New 
York, near the boundary line of Massachusetts. This 
place has become a great resort for visitors, who are 
attracted by the romantic scenery of the region, as well 
as the beneficial influence of its waters. The temperature 
of the spring is 72° Fahrenheit, which, being nearly 



328 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

summer-heat, renders it delightful for bathing. The 
water is tasteless, and pure as crystal. 

Bedford Springs are situated in Pennsylvania, in a 
narrow and romantic valley. The principal spring issues 
from a limestone rock, the water of which is clear and 
sparkling. On the west side of the creek is a sulphur 
spring, and one mile and a half north-east from Bedford 
is a chalybeate spring, surrounded with bog-iron ore. 

Carlisle Springs are situated in Pennsylvania, on a 
branch of the Conodoguinet Creek, in a retired spot, sur- 
rounded by the fine scenery of the Blue Mountains. The 
water bubbles up from the slate formation, from which it 
derives a strong impregnation of sulphur. 

Virginia Springs are among the most celebrated water- 
ing-places of America, and are visited every season by 
vast numbers, either in search of recreation and amuse- 
ment, or to enjoy the benefit of the waters. They con- 
tain sulphate of soda, carbonate of magnesia, chloride of 
sodium, per-oxide of iron, organic matter, iodines, sulphate 
of magnesia, phosphate of lime, and precipitated sulphur. 
The gaseous contents are, carbonic acid, sulphuretted 
hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen. They are situated in an 
elevated and beautifully picturesque valley, hemmed in 
by mountains on every side ; having the Hot and Warm 
Springs on the north — the former 35, and the latter 40 
miles distant ; the Sweet, 17 miles to the east ; the Salt 
and Red on the south-west — the former 24, the latter 41 
miles distant ; and the Blue Sulphur, 22 miles to the west 
of Virginia. 

The Warm Springs, North Carolina, are situated on 
the east bank of the French Broad River, 282 miles west 
from Raleigh, the capital of the State. The surround- 
ing scenery, especially that traversed by the river, is 
admirable. The river is shut in on both sides by 



MINERAL SPRINGS. 329 

mountains ; in many places rounding high, bluff points ; 
and the scenery is very wild, rugged, and picturesque. 
The climate of this region is one of the most salubrious 
in the world. 

The Hot Springs, in Arkansas, are situated about 60 
miles from Little Rock. From a ridge of land forming a 
steep bank, 150 feet high, projecting over Hot Spring 
Creek, more than 100 springs issue at different elevations, 
with temperatures varying from 135° to 160° Fahrenheit. 
These springs are visited annually by thousands of people, 
and are particularly noted for the cure of rheumatism. 
There is a cold spring so near one of the warm springs 
that a person can put one hand in cold and the other in 
hot water. 

Ballaston Spa, Avon Springs, New Lebanon Springs, 
and Sharon Springs, in New York ; Brandy wine Springs, 
Delaware; Sweet Springs, in Virginia; Herodsberg and 
Drennan Springs, Kentucky; Warm Springs, in Ten- 
nessee; Blount Springs, Alabama; and Glenny Springs, 
South Carolina, and many others, are celebrated. 



ANTIQUITIES. 

The antiquities found within the limits of the United 
States are not so important as those of Central America, 
Mexico, and Peru, but are from their great age almost 
equally interesting. Unlike the massive edifices which 
still rear their crumbling, spectral fronts amidst the forest 
of Central America, the more northern and eastern 
remains indicate only that degree of civilization attained 
by a rude agricultural society. Such are those gigantic 



330 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

mounds erected with geometrical precision on the terraces 
of the Mississippi Valley, and extending from the lakes 
southward to the gulf. In Georgia are several of these 
mounds, one of which, of a semi-oval form, 2000 feet long, 
37 high, and surrounded by a ditch, has been found to con- 
tain human remains. In Louisiana mounds have been found 
containing human remains, pottery, arrow heads, stone 
hatchets, relics cut in the shape of a curve or crescent, 
and in one instance a gold ornament worth $8 was found. 
A mound at Fort Hill, Illinois, manifestly constructed for 
defence, has a line of circumvallation nearly four miles in 
extent, and from 10 to 20 feet in height. Many have 
within their lines artificial reservoirs for water, and other 
unmistakable provisions for withstanding a siege. Besides 
these defensive works, and sometimes included within them, 
are structures of a religious character, consisting of mounds 
of regular outline, in the form of octagons, circles, and 
other geometrical figures. One of these, near Cahokia, 
Illinois, is 700 feet long by 500 broad at the base, and 90 
feet high. Another, in Adam's county, Ohio, is in the 
form of a serpent 1000 feet in length, extended in graceful 
curves, and terminating in a triple coil at the tail. The 
mouth is open, and apparently in the act of swallowing an 
oval figure, which rests partly within the jaws. The facts 
connected with the monuments of the Mississippi Valley 
indicate that the ancient population was numerous, and 
widely spread, and essentially homogeneous. Many of the 
mounds indicate a dense agricultural population, and a 
state of society very different from that of the modern race 
of Indians which inhabited the same country. Many facts, 
such as the former denudation by overflow of mounds now 
far removed from the highest floods, and the formation of 
an additional terrace or river bank since their construc- 
tion, demonstrate the great antiquity of these remains. 



ANTIQUITIES. 331 



fl 



By whom they were built, and whether their authors 
migrated to other lands, succumbed to the powers of an 
alien race, or were swept out of existence by some direful 
epidemic or universal famine, are questions which, in the 
present condition of our knowledge, cannot be answered. 

" The solitude of centuries untold 
Has settled where they dwelt." 



MOUNT YERNON. 

Mount Vernon, the home and tomb of Washington, is 
on the banks of the Potomac, fifteen miles from Washing- 
ton City. The domain was lately purchased from his 
descendants for the nation, for §200,000, raised by sub- 
scriptions. The mansion is of wood, cut in imitation of 
freestone. On the eastern front there is a piazza reaching 
from the roof to the ground, under which it was the habit 
of Washington to walk to and fro every morning with 
military regularity. The interior has been preserved with 
care, and presents the same appearance now as during his 
lifetime. The new tomb, into which the remains of Wash- 
ington were removed in 1830, stands a short distance from 
the house. It is a plain, solid structure of brick, with an 
iron gate at the entrance, through the bars of which may 
be seen two sarcophagi of white marble, in which, side by 
side, slumber in peaceful silence the father of his country 
and his amiable wife. The old tomb, fast going to decay, 
is in a more picturesque situation than the new one, being 
on an elevation in full view of the river. 



AEMY — NAVY — POST OFFICE — BE VENUE —NATIONAL 
DEBT— BANKS— EEAL AND PERSONAL PROPERTY, Etc. 



ARMY. 



In 1789, Congress, in pursuance of the provisions of the 
Constitution, making it the duty of Congress to " raise 
and support armies," and " to provide for the common 
defence," established a Department of "War, and in 1776 
a number of " Original Rules and Articles of War "were 
enacted, which form the military code which governs all 
troops in the service of the United States. In 1790 the 
rank and file of the army, as fixed by Act of Congress, 
amounted to 1216 men. The next year another regiment 
900 strong was added, and in 1796 the regular army con- 
sisted mainly of a small body of artillery and engineers, 
two companies of light dragoons, and four regiments of 
infantry of eight companies each. Afc this strength of 
about 14,000 the force was kept till the outbreak of the 
Civil War in 1861. The total number of men called into 
the field from the commencement of the war till its close 
in 1865 was 2,039,748. Of these it is calculated that 
580,000 died of disease or wounds received in battle. The 
Southern army was entirely disbanded in April, 1865 ; 
but of the Northern army there remained 210,000 on the 



THE NAVY. 333 

rolls on July 31, 1865. By order of the War Department 
in 1865, the United States and Territories were classified 
nnder five military divisions : the Atlantic, with head- 
quarters at Philadelphia ; the Ohio, at St. Louis ; the Gulf, 
at New Orleans; the Tennessee, at Nashville; arid the 
Pacific, at San Francisco. These divisions are subdivided 
into 18 military departments, each under a special com- 
mander. The nominal strength of the militia force of the 
United States, according to the official returns of the 
Secretary of War, is shown at 50,110 officers, 2,225,870 
rank and file. Total 3,245,193. 



THE NAYY. 

It was not till 1789, nine years after the Government 
of the United States was organized, that a navy depart- 
ment was created by Congress, and so late as 1861 the 
naval force consisted of only 41 men-of-war in active 
service, most of which were sailing vessels. On the 
commencement of the Civil War, Congress decreed the 
creation of a steam navy; and in 1865 the number 
of vessels possessed by the United States Government 
was 610. 

At the close of the war the number of vessels, according 
to the Navy Register for 1866, was 586. Of these 255 
have been disposed of by sale, and 13 have been lost. 
The number of vessels retained in the service is 318. 
The largest iron-clad in the United States navy is the 
" Dunderberg," built at New York, and launched early in 
the year 1865. This vessel has a tonnage of 4300 tons, 
and carries 14 guns. The United States possess eight 
dockyards, namely — Portsmouth, Charleston, Brooklyn, 
Philadelphia, Washington, Norfolk, Pensacola, and Mare 



334 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

Island. Norfolk and Pensacola were destroyed daring 
the Civil War; Mare Island, on the Pacific, is as yet 
unfinished. 



POST OFFICE. 

The receipts of this department for the year ending 
June, 1865, amounted to $14,556,158 (£2,911,231), and 
the expenditure to $13,694,728 (£2,738,945), showing an 
increase compared with the previous year at the rate of 17 
per cent, on the receipts, and 8 per cent, on the expendi- 
ture. The number of postage stamps and stamped enve- 
lopes' issued amounted to $12,847,437 (£2,569,489), 
$1,623,138 more than the previous year. The mail service 
in operation in June, 1865, embraced 6012 routes, of the 
aggregate length of 142,340 miles. Railway post-offices 
have recently been established on the principal lines. 
The aggregate postage, sea, inland, and foreign, upon the 
correspondence exchanged with foreign countries, amounted 
to $1,819,928, of which $1,449,530 accrued on the mails 
exchanged with Great Britain, France, Prussia, Bremen, 
Hamburg, and Belgium; $275,197*06 on the mails ex- 
changed with the British North American Provinces ; and 
$95,200*74 on the mails transmitted to and from the West 
Indies, and Central and South America. The number of 
post-offices established is 28,882. 

Mails for the United States are made up in London 
every Wednesday and Saturday evening, closing at six 
o'clock. They are taken up at Queenstown on the following 
day by the Liverpool steamers. Mails for Europe are made 
up in New York on the same days. The postage on letters 
between the United States and Great Britain is, for each 
half ounce one shilling if paid in the latter country, and 24 



POST OFFICE. 335 

cents if paid in tbe former. Prepayment is optional on either 
side, and when prepaid, letters are not subject to a further 
charge on delivery. Newspapers must be prepaid in either 
country, the postage being one penny in England, and 
two cents in the United States ; the same sum is also 
charged on delivery in each country. The system of 
money orders was first commenced in the United States in 
1864, and in 1865 420 offices had been established. 

Periodical works not of daily publication, issued in the 
shape of pamphlets, may be sent from England to the 
United States, at the following rates : — Not exceeding 
2 oz., Id. ; above 2 oz., but not exceeding 3 oz., 6d. ; above 
S oz., but not exceeding 4 oz., 8d. ; with an addition of 
2d. for every additional ounce up to 16 ounces, above 
which the privilege does not extend. At the same rate of 
postage, any pamphlet not weighing more than 8 oz. (even 
though it be not a periodical publication) may be sent to 
the United States. This postage is only the British por- 
tion, an equal sum being charged on delivery. The same 
rates and conditions apply to publications from the United 
States to Great Britain, two cents being equal to one 
penny. The periodical works or pamphlets must always 
be sent in a cover open at the ends (not more than one 
being sent in a single cover), and the postage must be 
prepaid. Other printed papers or books (except those 
specified above), addressed to the United States, are liable 
to letter rate of postage. There must be no writing, or 
other marks upon such periodical works, pamphlets, etc., 
or upon the covers, except the names and addresses of the 
persons to whom they are sent ; nor upon the covers must 
there be any printing, except the names and addresses of 
the persons to whom they are sent, and the names and 
addresses of the senders. Any other writing, etc., will 
render the packets liable to letter rates of postage. 



136 



DESCEIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 



KEVENUE. 

The aggregate receipts of internal revenue for the 
years 1863, 1864, and 1865, are returned as follows : — 

1863 $41,003,192 

1864 116,850,672 

1865 211,129,529 

The receipts and expenditure for the five years ending 
1864, were as follows : — 



s 
s 


Customs. 


Internal and 
Direct Taxes. E f 


Sales of 
Land. 


Loans and 

Treasury Notes. 


Total. 


1860 
1861 


$53,187,512 
39,582,126 
49,056,398 
69,059,642 

102,316,152 




$1,778,558 
870,659 
152,204 
167,617 
588,333 


$20,786,808 
41,895,340 
529,692,461 
595,595,727 
618,114,884 


$76,841,408 
83,371,640 


1862 
1863 
1864 


$1,795,332 

39,125,892 

157,728,231 


581,628,181 
706,995,493 
878,746,601 



ITEMS OF EXPENDITURE, 1860 to 1864. 





Civil List. 


Navy. 


War. 


Interest of 
Debt. 


Total. 


I860 
1861 
1862 
1863 
1864 


$6,077,008 
6,074,141 
5,939,009 
6,350,618 
8,059,177 


$11,514,649 
12,387,156 
42,674,569 
63,211,105 
85,733,292 


$16,472,202 
23,001,530 
394,368,407 
599,298,600 
690,791,842 


$3,144,620 
4,034,157 
13,190,324 
21,729,846 
53,685,421 


$63,154,730 
66,571,426 
474,744,776 
714,609,987 
865,234,084 



The ahove does not include payments off National 
Debt, which would increase the expenditure to the follow- 
ing accounts : — 



THE NATIONAL DEBT. 337 

1860 $77,055,125 

1861 85,387,313 

1862 370,841,700 

1863 895,796,630 

1864 1,298,144,656 



THE NATIONAL DEBT. 

The public debt of the United States on the 25th of 
April, 1862, was officially stated at 3523,299,945 ; and on 
the 10th of April, 1863, at $939,497,359— an increase in 
350 days of $1,189,135 per diem. On the 26th of April, 
1864, it was $1,656,815,105 — an increase in 381 days of 
$1,882,723 per diem. On the 31st of March, 1865, it stood 
at $2,366,955,077 — increasing in 339 days at the average 
rate of $2,094,808 per diem. On the 1st day of June, 
1866, it was $2,799,979,450, of which $1,108,000,000 
is payable in gold, and $1,053,000,000 in the legal 
currency of the country. The most careful and liberal 
estimate of the Fiscal department of the Government 
fixes the ultimate war debt at $3,000,000,000. This 
debt is held almost entirely by American citizens, not 
over $300,000,000 being held abroad. The immediate 
resources of the Government for the year closing the 30th 
of June, 1865, were from customs, internal revenue, etc., 
$318,251,589, of which $82,000,000 was in gold from 
customs. The annual charge on the revenue, estimating 
the interest on 83,000,000,000 of debt, cannot exceed 
$165,000,000, leaving an excess of revenue for other pur- 
poses of $231,000,000. 

The following is a statement of the Public Debt on the 
1st of May, 1866:— 

22 



338 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

Debt bearing Coin Interest. 

Five per cent, bonds $198,241,100 

Six per cent, bonds of 

1867-68 18,323,591 

Six per cent, bonds of 1881 . . 283,744,151 

Six per cent. 5-20 bonds 685,784,000 

§1,186,092,842 

Debt bearing Currency Interest. 

Six per cent, bonds $4,634,000 

Temporary loan 131,497,853 

Certificates of indebtedness . . 62,620,000 
One and two-year five per 

cent, notes 6,036,900 

Three-year componnd interest 

notes 167,012,141 

Three-year 7-30 notes 816,512,650 

; $1,188,313,544 

Matured debt not presented for payment . . 877,729 

Debt bearing no Interest. 

United States notes $415,164,318 

Fractional currency 28,192,017 

Gold certificates of deposit . . 9,036,420 

$452,392,755 



Total Debt $2,827,676,870 

Amount in Treasury. 

Coin •.... $76,676,407 

Currency 61,310,621 

§137,987,028 



Amount of Debt, less cash in Treasury... $2,689,689,842 



BANKS. 339 



BANKS. 



The charter of banks throughout the United States is 
•wholly in the hands of the State authorities, and the mul- 
tiplication of banks on a sound basis, with increased aggre- 
gate capital, is one of the most significant features of the 
prosperity and increase of the country. The first bank 
which went regularly into operation in any of the States 
was established in the city of Boston, 1784, where it still 
exists. A law was passed by the legislature of New York 
in 1838, and revised in 1843, which provides that any in- 
dividual or association may engage in the business of 
banking on depositing with the State Comptroller securities 
either in bonds or mortgages on real estate, bearing interest 
at 6 per cent., or United States or New York Stocks, on 
receipt of which securities, the parties depositing the same 
are supplied with an equal amount of notes, numbered, 
registered, and signed by the State Comptroller ; and a 
similar provision has been adopted in many other States. 
Free banking, or general banking laws have been enacted 
with varied success in most of the States. Weekly returns 
of the condition of the banks in the city of New York are 
required to be published. In 1853 a clearing house 
was established in that city, and the average amount 
cleared annually is over $6,000,000,000. 



340 



DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 



View op the Condition of the Banks in the United States 
from 1858 to 1862. 



Number of banks & branches 
Liabilities. 

Capital paid in 

Circulation 

Deposits 

Due to other banks 

Other liabilities 

Profits, etc 



1,422 



$394,622,799 

155,208,344 

185,932,049 

51,169,875 

14,166,713 

47,495,973 



Total liabilities 

Resources. 

Loans and discounts 

Stocks 

Real estate 

Other investments . . 
Due by other banks 
Notes of other banks 

Cash items 

Specie 



Total resources 



1858. 



1,562 



$421,880,095 

207,102,477 

253,802,129 

55,932,91S 

14,661,815 

46,479,873 



$848,595,753 



583,165,242 
60,305,260 
28,755,834 
6,075,906 
58,052,802 
22,447,436 
15,380,441 
74,412,832 



Aggregate cash, i.e., of cir 
culation, deposits, and 
dues to other banks .... 

Aggregate cash means, i.e., 
of specie, cash items, notes 
of other banks, and dues 
from other banks 

Gold and silver in U. S 
Treasury 

Specie in banks and treasury 



$848,595,753 



392,310,268 



170,293,511 

10,229,229 
84,642,061 



1860. 



1862. 



$999,859,307 



691,945,580 
70,344,343 
30,782,131 
11,123,171 
67,235,457 
25,502,567 
19,331,521 
83,594,537 



1,492 



$418,139,741 

183,692,070 

296,322,400 

61,144,550 

21,633.003 

31,218,850 



$1,012,150,614 



646,680,715 
99,010,960 
32,326,650 
13,648,006 
65,256,581 
25,253,518 
27,827,970 

102,146,214 



$999,859,307 



516,837,524 



195,664,082 

6,695,225 
90,289,762 



$1,012,150,614 
541,159,020 

220,484,283 

16,210,100 
118,356,314 



Since the expiration of the United States Bank Charter, 
in 1836, there has been no general national bank, but since 
the war there has been established by Congress in most of 



BANKS. 341 

the individual States, what are termed National Banks. 
The bills of any one of these may be cashed at par by the 
State banks in any other State, nnlike the bills of the old 
banks, which were often subjected to heavy discount in 
distant States. Established in 1863, their progress may 
be gathered from the following table : — 

Capital. Circulation. 

October, 1863, the number of 

Banks was .• 94 $7,184,715 

In April, 1864 „ „ 357 42,204,474 812,144,650 

In October, 1864 „ „ 524 99,339,400 51,394,150 

In April, 1865 „ „ 973 225,246,300 111,634,670 

la October, 1865 „ „ 1,650 394,960,333 179,981,520 

The amount of notes furnished to the National Banks 
up to and including the 31st of October was a little over 
8205,000,000. In addition to the United States notes,, 
there were also outstanding 832,536,900 five per cent,. 
Treasury notes, and $173,012,140 compound interest notes, 
of which it is estimated that §30,000,000 were in circula- 
tion as currency. 

The paper circulation of the United States, on the 
31st of October, 1865, was substantially as follows : — 

1. United States notes and fractional 

currency $454,218,038.20 

2. Notes of the National Banks 185,000,000.00 

3. Notes of State Banks, including out- 

standing issues of State Banks con- 
verted into National Banks 65,000,000.00 

$704,218,038.20 

The returns of savings' banks, in the few States where 
annual and accurate reports are published, furnish definite 
information respecting the material condition of the labour- 



342 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 



ing classes. In the State of New York, the deposits in 
the savings' banks increased from 1858 to 1861 as follows : — 

1860 358,178,000 

1861 67,440,000 



1858 $41,472,000 

1859 48,194,000 



The returns of the savings' banks of Massachusetts are 
more complete than those of New York. Taking the ten 
years from 1850 to 1860, the deposits in this State in- 
creased 231 per cent. In the same period the population 
of the State increased about 24 per cent. ; the total valua- 
tion, about 50 per cent. ; and the bank capital, about 75 
per cent. The accumulation of industrial savings, there- 
fore, exceeded all the other ratios of State development in 
the above-mentioned period. The deposits from 1860 to 
1863 (inclusive) have been as follows : — 



1860 $45,054,000 

1861 44,785,000 



1862 $50,403,000 

1863 56,883,000 



Returns from the other New England States show a 
similar progressive increase of deposits during the last few 
years ; and the same is also probably true of the other 
Northern States. 



THE NATIONAL SECURITIES. 

The " Seven-thirties " represent a Currency Loan having 
three years to run, and then convertible into a gold interest 
6 per cent, stock, having twenty years to run, but with the 
right reserved to the Government of paying off the loan, 
in gold, at any time after five years. The term " Seven- 
thirties " is derived from the rate of interest which these 
three-years convertible notes bear, to wit, two cents per 



THE NATIONAL SECURITIES. 343 

day on each $100, or for 365 days, seven dollars and thirty 
cents on each §100. 

The term " Five-twenties " is applied to the 6 per cent, 
gold-bearing bonds of the United States, to which twenty 
years half-yearly coupons are attached, but which may be 
paid off by the Government, on due notice to the holders, 
at any time after five years. 

The term " Ten-forties " is applied to the 5 per cent, 
gold-bearing bonds of the United States, to which half- 
yearly coupons are attached for forty years, but which may 
be paid off in gold on notice to the holders, at any time 
after ten years. 

The long, or unconditional G per cent, gold-bearing 
loan, known as the G per cent, of 1881, cannot be redeemed 
by the Government at all, except by purchase. 

The outstanding and authorized totals of each of the 
above were, May 1, 18G5, as follows : — 

Seven-thirties $600,000,000 

Five-twenties 596,545,900 

Ten-forties 172,770,100 

Sixes of 1881 281,561,400 

Total §1,650,877,400 

Interest in currency on $600,000,000 

Interest in gold on 1,050,877,400— $1,650,877,400 

In addition to the gold interest stocks here classified, there 
is outstanding $48,868,891 of the old funded 5 and 6 per 
cents, of the United States, upon which the interest is paid 
in gold, and the principal of which will be redeemed in 
gold when due. 

The term " Greenbacks " and " Legal Tender " are con- 
vertible. All the greenbacks are legal tender; bat 
$433,160,569 are of the ordinary circulation, free of in- 



344 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

terest, and $226,000,000 bear simple or compound interest, 
payable on the maturity of the notes, most of them 6 per 
cents., payable three years after 1864, the interest com- 
pounded in a table on the back of the note eveiy six months. 
The currency of the United States is based on a 
decimal system, of which the dollar forms the base, or 
unit. The gold coins are of five denominations, to wit : — 
The Double Eagle, worth $20, the largest gold coin issued 
in the world ; the next in value is the Eagle, of the value 
of $10 ; then folloAV the Half-Eagle, $5 ; and the Quarter- 
Eagle, $2£ ; and the Dollar, of the value of a hundred cents. 
The following coins are always of silver : — The Half-Dollar, 
50 cents ; the Quarter-Dollar, 25 cents ; the Dime (from 
decern, ten), 10 cents ; the Half-Dime, 5 cents. The Cent 
(Latin, centum, a hundred), the 100th part of a dollar, is 
composed of copper alloyed with nickel. The Mill is a 
nominal sum (Latin, -mille, a thousand), worth the 1000th 
part of a dollar. The cent has precisely the same value as 
the English halfpenny, but is less than half the size, owing 
to the nickel used in its composition. 



REAL AND PERSONAL PROPERTY. 

The increase in the value of real and personal property 
of the whole United States for the decennial period of 
1850-60, as shown in the following table, was in the ratio 
of over 126 per cent. : — 



REAL AND PERSONAL PROPERTY. 



345 



States. 


In 1860. 


Increase 
Bince 1850. 


Increase pr 

cent, for 10 

years. 


Alabama 


$495,237,078 
219,256,473 
207,874,623 
414,274,114 

46,242,181 

73,101,500 
645,895,237 
871,860,282 
528,835,371 
247,338,265 

31,327,895 
666,043,112 
602,118,568 
190,211,600 
376,919,944 
815,237,433 
257,363,983 

52,294,413 
607,324,911 
501,214,398 
156,310,860 
467,918,324 
1,843,388,517 
358,739,399 
1,193,898,422 

28,930,637 
1,416,501,818 
135,337,588 
548,138,754 
493,903,892 
365,200,614 
122,477,170 
793,249,681 
273,671,668 

41,084,945 
9,131,056 

20,813,768 
5,596,118 
5,601,466 


$267,032,746 
179,415,448 
185,712,741 
288,556,134 
25,179,625 
50,239,230 
310,469,523 
715,595,276 
326,185,107 
223,623,627 


117-01 


Arkansas 


450-02 


California 


837 98 


Connecticut 


185-32 




11954 


Florida 


219-74 


Georgia 


92-56 


Illinois . 


457-93 


Indiana 


160-95 


Iowa 


942-97 






Kentucky . . 


361,414,656 
368,119,804 
67,434,029 
157,702,580 
241,895,147 
197,376,728 


120-81 


Louisiana 


15730 


Maine , 


54-92 


Maryland 


71-93 


Massachusetts 


42-19 


Michigan 


33013 






Mississippi 


378,373,781 
363,966,691 

52,658,025 
267,918,324 
763,029,301 
131,938,927 
689,172,302 

23,867,163 
694,015,698 

54,828,794 
259,881,060 
292,657,206 
312,460,141 

30,272,121 
362,618,599 
231,615,073 

27,066,071 


16526 


Missouri 


265-18 


New Hampshire 


5080 


New Jersey 


13395 


New York 


7063 


North Carolina 


58-17 


Ohio 


13654 


Oregon 


47435 


Pennsylvania 


96 05 


Rhode Island 


68-10 


South Carolina 


9015 


Tennessee 


145-42 


Texas 


592-44 


Vermont 

Virginia 


32-83 

84-17 


Wisconsin 


550-72 


District of Columbia 


19306 






New Mexico 


15,639,298 
4,610,035 


302-24 


Utah 


467-50 j 


Washington Territory 










$16,159,616,068 


$8,925,481,011 


126-45 







346 



DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 



The officially assessed value of the real and personal 
property of the United States in 1860 is thus stated at 
$16,159,000,000. Large as this valuation seems, it is, 
nevertheless, in the opinion of the best statisticians, con- 
siderably below a true estimate ; inasmuch as real propert} r , 
in actual practice, is rarely valued, for census returns and 
for purposes of assessment, at more than two-thirds of its 
real value, while large amounts of personal property escape 
valuation and assessment altogether. 

The following table shows the estimated or official valua- 
tion of the wealth of the country for each decennial period 
since 1791 ; the increased decennial percentage value ; and 
the average property to each person. 



Year. 


Population. 


Value of real and 
personal property. 


Decennial per 

centage increase 

of wealth. 


Average 
property to 
each person. 


1790 
1800 
1810 
1820 
1830 
1840 
1850 
1860 
1865 


3,929,827 

5,305,937 

7,239,814 

9,638,191 

12,866,020 

17,069,453 

23,191,876 

31,500,000 
(assumed) 
34,000,000 


(estimated) 

$750,000,000 

(estimated) 

1,072,000,000 

(estimated) 

1,500,000,000 

(estimated) 

1,882,000,000 

(estimated) 

2,653,000,000 

(official) 
3,764,000,000 

(official) 
7,135,780,000 

(official) 
16,159,000,000 
(estimated) 
21,574,000,000 




§187-00 
202-13 
207-20 
195-00 
206-00 
220-00 
307-67 
510-00 
634-52 


43 per cent. 
39 

25-4 „ 
41 

41-7 „ 

89-6 „ 

126-42 „ 







EXCHANGE. 347 



EXCHANGE. 

The par of Exchange between England and the United 
States is determined by the relative proportion of pare 
metal in the coined piece which forms the unit of price 
in the different commercial countries of the world ; the 
alloy is reckoned of no value. 

" To simplify the matter as much as possible, we will 
waive all considerations of the different standards of fine- 
ness, and state that the American dollar contains 23.22.100 
grains of pure gold, and the English sovereign 113 grains 
of the same. Every person may not know that the sove- 
reign is the coined piece of which the pound sterling is 
the money of account. A simple calculation in the rule of 
three, therefore, determines that the equivalent of the 
pound sterling is $4.86.65.100 of American currency. 

Thus, as 23.22.100 is to 1, so is 113 to §4.86.65.100. 
But, through all the variations of the Mint Laws in the 
United States and elsewhere — indeed for ages — English 
merchants have been accustomed to value the pound 
sterling by the old Spanish Carolus pillar dollars now en- 
tirely out of circulation in Europe and America. Of these 
$4.44.44.100 were equivalent to the pound sterling. It 
will be seen that it requires the addition of 9| per cent., 
with a scarcely appreciable fraction, to make the value of 
the pound sterling in American currency at the Exchange 
prevailing at the outbreak of the American rebellion." — 
Hunt's Merchants' Magazine. 

Thus $4.44.44.100 

Add 9 1 per cent, premium of Exchange . . . 0.42.22.000 



Total §4.86.66.100 



348 DESCEIPTIYE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 



EXCHANGE TABLE 

Showing the value of Greenbacks at the different Rates of Exchange, 
from Par to 200 ; with rule for calculating the same. 

3 s.d. 
With gold at Par 1 is equal to 4 2 (here 2 cents are equal to 

„ 125 1 „ 3 4 one penny.) 

130 1 „ 3 2 6-13 

„ 135 1 „ 3 1 10-35 

140 1 „ 2 11 6-14 

146 1 „ 210 47-5S 

3, 150 1 „ 2 9 5-15 (here 3 cents are equal to 

„ 155 1 „ 2 8 8-31 one penny.) 

160 1 „ 2 7{ 

„ 165 1 „ 2 6 10-33 

170 1 „ 2 5 7-17 

„ 175 1 „ 2 4 1-14 (here 3^ cents are equal to 

„ 180 1 „ 2 3h 5-18 " one penny.) 

„ 185 1 „ 2 3 1-37 

„ 190 1 „ 2 2 6-19 

„ 195 1 „ 2 1 2?i-196 

„ 200 1 „ 2 1 (here 4 cents are equal to 

one penny.) 

Eule. — To find the value of one dollar at any quotation, divide 
10,000 by the quotation of gold, and the quotient will be the value in 
halfpence. Thus :— Gold at 175 

175) 10,000 (57 25-175 halfpence = 2s. Ud. 12^-175 
875 

1250 
1225 



LEGAL INTEREST AND USURY. 349 



LEGAL INTEREST AND USUBY. 

The laws relating to interest and usury differ con- 
siderably in the several States. In California, Oregon, 
and Kansas the legal rate is ten per cent., and in the other 
States it varies from five to eight per cent. Usury laws 
exist in nearly all the States, restricting interest to the 
legal rates ; but public opinion is so far in advance of the 
law, that it is constantly evaded, and special agreements 
for the use of money are made in all the States, regardless 
of the usury laws. The average rate of interest in the 
Eastern and Middle States is seven per cent., in many of 
the Western States twelve per cent., and in California, as 
well as in other parts of the extreme west, much higher 
rates prevail. The Government rate for loans payable in 
currency is 7~ per cent.; this has therefore been adopted 
by many of the States as the legal rate. This fraction is 
adopted for convenience of reckoning -7-^ per cent, being- 
two cents per day on every $100. 



CHAPTER XXL 

AMERICAN CHARACTERISTICS. 

To the philosophical observer, the United States now 
presents a unique aspect. The most varied and hetero- 
geneous population in the world exists upon terms of perfect 
equality, obeying the same laws, supporting the same in- 
stitutions, and speaking the same language, with but a 
limited diversity of idiom or even pronunciations. Viewed 
in this light, America has been aptly termed " the grave 
of nationalities." Says a graphic American author, Henry 
Tuckerman : — " Whole communities now are nationally 
representative. Each people finds its church, its fetes, its- 
newspapers, costume, and habits organized in America. 
Every convulsion or disaster abroad brings its community 
of exiles to our shores. After the French Revolution 
nobles and people flocked hither ; after the massacre at 
St. Domingo, the Creoles who escaped found refuge 
here ; famine has sent thousands of Irish ; and in the 
West is a vast and thrifty German population. Hun- 
garians make wine in Ohio ; Jenny Lind found her coun- 
trymen on the banks of the Delaware ; an Italian regiment 
was organized in a few days when New York summoned 
her citizens to the defence of the Union ; and in that city 
the tokens of every nationality are apparent — the French 
table-d'hote, the Italian caffe, the German beer-garden, 
image-venders from Genoa, and organ-grinders from Lucca, 



AMERICAN CHARACTERISTICS. 351 

theatres, journals, churches, music, and manners peculiar 
to every people, from the Jewish synagogue to the Roman 
convent, betoken the versatile and protected emigration. 
It is when the free scope and the mutual respect, the perfect 
self-reliance and undisturbed individuality, of all these 
opposite demonstrations, indicative of an eclectic, tolerant, 
self-subsistent social order, combination, and utterance, 
pass before the senses, and impress the thought, that we 
realize what has been done and is doing on this continent 
for man as such ; and the unhallowed devotion to the im- 
mediate, the constant superficial excitements, the inhar- 
monious code of manners, the lawlessness of border and 
the extravagance of metropolitan life, the feverish ambition, 
the license of the press — all the blots on the escutcheon of 
the Republic, grow insignificant before the sublime possi- 
bilities whereof probity and beneficence, tact and talent, 
high impulse and adventurous zeal, may here take advan- 
tage." The basis of the immense variety of races is the 
English and Scotch emigration ; though, for some years 
past, that of Ireland has far exceeded the contribution of 
all the rest of Europe put together. The German element 
is also largely represented. On the Pacific, an entirely new 
element has of late years made its appearance ; and China 
has also commenced pouring in her quota. 

In the midst of all this seeming chaos of nationalities, 
permeating, vivifying, controlling, and characterizing the 
whole, the Anglo-Saxon element is pre-eminent. It is a 
common mistake to suppose that, inasmuch as the popula- 
tion of the United States is heterogeneous and varied, that 
it is therefore indiscriminate, or compounded of the many 
elements which it receives and numbers. This, however, 
is far from being the case. Each population retains its 
entirety, preserving with pride and affection the recollec- 
tion of its origin, and cherishing, sometimes to the third 



352 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

generation, the customs, habits, and predilections of the 
father-land. The English element particularly clings to 
this exclusiveness. The descendants alike of the Puritans 
of New England, and of the Cavaliers who settled Vir- 
ginia, have scarcely intermixed in the least with any of 
the races by which they are surrounded ; and, despite 
occasional heartburnings, have ever cherished the warmest 
affection for their ancestral home. The very name of 
England is dear to this, the American people proper. The 
hope of one day visiting the scenes hallowed by the genius 
of Milton, and Shakespeare, and Scott, is fondly cherished 
by the educated classes. Indeed, it is doubtful whether his 
native country has the same high degree of romantic 
interest for the Englishman as for his descendant in 
America, who spends his life in weaving a cluster of asso- 
ciations drawn from the history, the poesy, and the won- 
derful prose fiction of a land which he has never seen ! 

The Anglo-American, in his good as well as in his bad 
traits, is essentially English. Nearly every peculiarity may 
be traced to the influence of locality, institutions, or other 
circumstances. The Government being democratic, there 
is less of the subserviency and humble civility which cha- 
racterize the lower classes in Europe ; but ample compen- 
sation for the lack of the more refined observances of old 
communities is found in the frankness and cordial sim- 
plicity which abound everywhere. The greatest freedom 
of intercourse prevails, and a total absence of the com- 
paratively formal manners of European society entirely 
obviates the sense of loneliness that oppresses the unac- 
credited stranger in the Old World. The people are free 
from the depressing anxieties which accompany the fierce 
struggle for existence in olden communities, and exhibit 
an inexpressible buoyancy which is contagious. There is 
an elastic spring in the very gait of an American ; his 



AMERICAN CHARACTERISTICS. 353 

movements are quick and nervous, and a certain dash ac- 
companies his most ordinary actions. 

The unceasing bustle which pervades all American society 
forces itself upon the observation of every foreigner. The 
Americans are certainly a fast people ; they eat fast, talk fast, 
and walk fast. They seem to be constantly inhaling an extra 
proportion of oxygen, or to be overcharged with electricity. 
Indeed, some theorists have gravely endeavoured to 
account for the redundant excitability and energy of the 
Yankee, by attributing it to the over-accumulation of 
animal electricity in an exceedingly dry atmosphere. But 
this theory will not bear investigation, as we find the 
same dryness of atmosphere in the interior of all great 
continents. It is inhaled equally by the lazy Mexican 
of the table-land, the contented Chilian, and the half- 
civilized native of Thibet, and its effects upon the stolid 
predecessor of Brother Jonathan in America were not 
perceptible. The more reasonable hypothesis is, that the 
stimulus of that unequalled activity which we see in the 
United States is not physical but intellectual ; that it is 
the abundant infusion of hope into the moral atmosphere. 
The materials and facilities for the acquisition of wealth 
are so abundant as to be within easy reach of all, and no 
one need despair of attaining a competency by the exercise 
of a reasonable amount of prudence and economy. The 
abundant opportunities for profitable investments have 
also given birth to a spirit of economy and temperance in 
the industrial classes, utterly unknown in Europe : some- 
thing analogous to it might spring up in England if 
savings' banks offered to depositors ten per cent, interest, 
with a chance of realizing a hundred. In most of the 
States money may be lent with perfect safety, at ten to 
twenty per cent., and investments in land and " town lots " 
are often in a few years doubled, trebled, or quadrupled in 

23 



35-i DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

value. The dread of becoming poor, which, haunts the 
existence of the middle classes in England, is unknown in 
America ; the pawnbroker's shop is almost unknown, and 
the beggar and vagrant are seldom seen. Moreover, a 
limit is fixed to the impoverishment of the labouring- 
classes by a peculiar feature in the laws of most of the 
States, the operation of which seems to have been hereto- 
fore overlooked by those who have endeavoured to gain an 
insight into American institutions. This is what is known 
;as the " Homestead Exemption Law," by which is reserved 
to each family possessing property either a freehold or an 
-equivalent, of the value of from $500 to $1000, such re- 
served property remaining free from execution for debt. 
The tools of a mechanic are also exempt from seizure 
should misfortune fall upon him. Thus no man, except by 
his own free will, can ever be reduced to the condition of a 
pauper. In California the exemption includes property to 
the value of $2000 (£400). 

With laws and institutions favouring distribution, 
and with unlimited room for expansion, it is not likely 
that pauperism will ever become an incubus on 
-society. Says Mr. W. Chambers, in his " Things as 
they Are in America : " — " In no part of America 
did I see any beggars or ragged vagrants ; and except 
in ISTew York, the condition of which is exceedingly 
anomalous, I did not observe any drunkenness, there 
having been, as I understood, a great reform in this par- 
ticular. I should say that, independently of the ' Maine 
Law,' public opinion on the subject of drinking usages is 
considerably in advance of that of England. Other things 
struck me favourably. I observed that all classes were 
well dressed. My attention was called to the fact, that 
when operatives had finished the labours of the day, they 
generally changed their garments, and were as neatly 



AMERICAN CHAEACTEEISTICS. 355 

attired as those in higher stations. It was also observable 
that mechanics in good employment occupy better houses, 
pay higher rents, and dress their wives and families better 
than is usual in England or Scotland ; that they, in short, 
aim at living in greater respectability, and in doing so 
necessarily avoid such indulgences as would improperly 
absorb their means. It was agreeable to note that the 
English language is everywhere spoken well. I heard no 
jpatois, no local dialect. The tone of speech was uniform, 
though more nasal in some parts of New England than in 
other places." 

To whatever cause attributable the Americans are 
certainly remarkable for sobriety. This spirit has mani- 
fested itself not only in the exercise of individual abstemi- 
ousness, but in the formation throughout the whole 
country of Total Abstinence Societies, whose members are 
numbered, by hundreds of thousands. The most striking 
proof of the fact, however, is the existence of what are 
called " Maine Liquor Laws," from the circumstance that 
the first of the kind originated in the State of Maine. 
This law has been adopted throughout ISTew England, and 
in some other States, and hundreds of individual counties 
have procured special enactments of the kind for their 
separate benefit. These laws having all been enacted 
under a system of universal suffrage, afford a striking proof 
of the intelligence and self-control of the mass of the 
American people. This dislike of intemperance exists to 
such a degree as to attach more or less odium and loss of 
caste to all engaged in the manufacture or sale of spiri- 
tuous liquors. In most religious denominations it is a 
disqualification for membership in the church. The 
earnest desire manifested by all classes to educate them- 
selves and their children is not less striking than their 
sobriety. Here again the people have made the Legislature 



356 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

the instrument of accomplishing their wishes. The same 
bounteous public domain which offers the settler from 
every country a home without price, is made to afford his 
children the elements of a good education, without the 
expenditure of a dollar out of his own pocket. 

As there is no man who may not hope to be rich, 
so there is no citizen so humble that he may not 
reasonably aspire to the highest position in the State. 
With all this, there yet exists a very clear distinction 
of classes. It must not be supposed that because the 
artisan may aspire to be President, that he moves in the 
same circle while an artisan. But there is nothing like 
caste. Each individual stands upon his own merits, and 
wealth and intellectual culture are the key to the best 
society. There are no sinecures in the Government, and 
bo church establishment, furnishing snug livings, unbur- 
dened with actual duties. There scarcely exists a distinct 
class corresponding to the European idea of the " gentle- 
man." Whether this gap in American society is matter 
of regret, it is hard to say ; but it is not likely to remain 
unfilled. The accumulation of property goes on rapidly, 
notwithstanding the absence of entail and primogeniture, 
and doubtless the tendency of the funding of the immense 
national debt will be to widen and render more permanent 
social classification, founded on inoperative capital. 

A peculiar feature of American society is the respect 
with which women are treated. This is manifested in 
every department of social life, and under all circumstances. 
No one ever thinks of retaining his seat in a railway carriage, 
or in a public assembly, if there is a woman standing near. 
Gentlemen of the highest station unhesitatingly yield pre- 
cedence to females, no matter how humble. This superior 
consideration for the weaker sex extends further than mere 
courtesy. In many of the States the laws guarantee to 



AMERICAN CHARACTERISTICS. 357 

women separate ownership, and in case of the incapacity 
or intemperance of their husbands, separate control of their 
own property. In Texas, and one or two other States, her 
estate is not only distinct from that of her husband, but is 
entirely beyond his control. Female education is also con- 
ducted on a much broader and higher scale than in Europe. 
In America accomplishments are not the end, but only an 
incidental part, of the education of woman. She is taught 
music and painting, but she is also instructed in the 
sciences. Even physiology and anatomy form part of the 
training of every highly-educated woman ; and the same 
may be said of those branches of social and political science 
usually considered totally incompatible with the female 
character. It is not surprising that with such, advantages 
the superior intellectuality of American women should be 
a theme with all foreigners who visit the United States. 

Side by side with so much that is excellent, there exist 
palpable defects, the result, perhaps, of a somewhat transi- 
tional state of society. The same democratic institutions 
which have had so wholesome an effect in softening the 
sharp lines of artificial distinctions, and infusing vigour 
and hope into all the transactions of life, have not bestowed, 
unalloyed good. Universal suffrage, by making the un- 
educated masses the judge and rewarders of merit, have 
often had the effect of driving from the political arena 
men of learning and ability too profound to be appreciated 
by the half-informed, and to cause public offices — even 
those of a judicial character — to be often filled by indi- 
viduals of little ability, in many instances by demagogues, 
who excel only in the art of courting public favour. Owing 
to this cause, it is an undeniable fact that mediocrity, both 
intellectual and moral, not only wins, but too often wins 
against superior merit. This exercises a baleful influence 
in every department of life. The success which rewards 



358 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OP AMERICA. 

shallow attainments, when accompanied with tact, has 
even to some extent discouraged thoroughness in educa- 
tional training. Teachers of thorough erudition, in the 
European sense of the term, are rare ; a fact the less sur- 
prising since the profoundest learning is rewarded at the 
same low figure with the services of the man of medium 
attainments. About $2000 (£400) is considered a liberal 
salary for the erudite professor, the learned judge, and the 
eloquent divine. The result of all this is a degree of 
sciolism which it must be admitted accompanies that uni- 
versal mental culture for which the American people are 
remarkable. It pervades the forum, the rostrum, and i3 
found — with many honourable exceptions — in every de- 
partment of literature, where its effects are felt in the 
number of trashy books and periodicals that issue annually 
from the presk 

Other effects of the exuberance of civil liberty crop out 
in the prevalence of mob-law — now happily on the wane. 
A disposition to unduly magnify and laud themselves, to 
glorify their own power, and the freedom and happiness 
which they enjoy, has also been charged against the 
Americans, as it has been for centuries charged by the 
English against the French, and by the French against 
the English. On this point the judicious observer can only 
give a qualified assent when he reflects that national vanity 
is a universal characteristic of all nationalities in all ages. 

These defects are mostly the consequence of imperfec- 
tions by no means incurable, and will disappear before the 
introduction of educational qualifications for voters, longer 
tenures of public office; and, in fine, all those changes 
which make a new society an old society, and, while adding 
to its wisdom and experience, give rise to those necessary 
divisions of function and moderate social classifications 
indispensable to all civilizations. 



AMERICANISMS. 359 



AMERICANISMS. 



By far the greater part of those peculiarities in idiom, 
pronunciation, and epithet, known as " Americanisms," 
are really no more than English provincialisms. The 
New England States, having been settled almost entirely 
by the Roundheads during the Revolution of 1640, are 
still to some extent characterized by the nasal tone 
which then so strongly marked their speech in Eng- 
land. For the same reason, New England, despite the- 
influence of her wonderful free school system, still retains, 
many English provincialisms. The people of that section, 
use many English words as old as Chaucer. Few of these, 
however, are peculiar to the United States, for they may 
nearly all still be heard in the various counties of Eng- 
land ; almost every glossary of English pronunciations 
containing some of those words now in common use in 
New England. Those parts of the British Isles which 
have contributed most to Americanisms (so called) are 
the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk, and the Scottish 
borders. Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia were, like 
New England, purely English in their origin ; they have, 
however, less strongly-marked peculiarities of language. 

In the South- Western States, more especially Louisiana, 
many words of a French and Spanish origin have found a 
permanent place in the language ; and some have extended 
over the whole national area. Among those are the French 
bayou, levee, crevasse, habitan, royageiir ; and the Spanish 
terms, sierra, barranca, canon, rancho, fandango, lasso, 
stampede, and vamose. 

Terms derived from the aboriginal Indian language are 
numerous, and in common use over the whole continent. 
Among these are the names of animals — as caymo/n, moose, 



360 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

opossum, raccoon, manitee; names of plants, articles of 
food, etc., as persimmon, chincapin, pecan, maize, tobacco, 
hominy, succotash, mandioca ; articles of dress, social terms, 
etc., as hammock, moccasin, wigwam, sachem, cazique, squaw, 
pappoos, etc. There is a large class of words also common 
to the whole country, which have grown out of the pecu- 
liar social and political phases of the nation. Among 
these are, canvass, mass-meeting, lobby, mileage, senatorial, 
gubernatorial, buncombe, squatter, backwoods, cane brake, 
cornshucking, diggings, prairie, pre-emption, savannah, 
location, etc. 

Besides the Americanisms proper, there is a class of 
cant words and phrases frequently used in conversation. 
Such are, to acknowledge the corn, to flash in the pan, to cave 
in, to bark up the wrong tree, to wake up the wrong passenger, 
to pull up stakes, to walk into, to slope, to skedaddle, etc. 

Formidable as the list of Americanisms appears in 
works specially devoted to their collection, yet, owing to 
the general diffusion of education in the United States, 
the almost universal habit of reading newspapers and 
books, and the constant intercourse prevailing between the 
remotest sections, there is no country of equal extent on 
the globe where one language is spoken with greater purity 
and with as much uniformity. As a striking illustration 
of this, the traveller may traverse the whole Union, from 
Maine to Texas — a greater distance than that intervening 
between London and Constantinople — without meeting 
with as marked a deflection from the standard of correct 
English as he would in passing from one English county 
to another. Americanisms, though properly only con- 
sisting of terms and phrases which have originated in 
America, have been, as has been shown, divided into 
several distinct classes, covering a much wider scope; 
first, into words and phrases wholly new, or Americanisms 



AMERICANISMS. 



361 



par excellence; secondly, old English words with new or 
obsolete meanings ; thirdly, words which have become pro- 
vincial in England, but are still in general use in America ; 
fourthly, new methods of accentuation or pronunciation ; 
fifthly, words and phrases derived from various European 
languages other than English ; sixthly, aboriginal words. 

The following list comprises those in most common 
use : — 

Acknowledge the coen, to confess a charge or imputation. 

To allow, to conclude, to decide as true. 

Bagasse, sugar-cane from which the juice has been pressed. 

Baggage, used instead of luggage. 

Balance, meaning remainder. 

Banquette, the name for the side-walk in some of the Southern cities. 

To bark up the wrong tree, a common expression to denote that 

a person has mistaken his object. 
To bat, to bat the eyes, in Southern parlance, is to wink. 
Bayou (Fr.), in Louisiana, the outlet of a lake, a channel for water. 
Bender, in New York, a spree, a frolic ; to " go on a bender" is to go 

on a spree. 
Big bugs, people of consequence. 
B'hoys, boys, a name applied to a class of noisy young men of the 

lower ranks of society in New York. 
Blue, gloomy, severe, extreme, ultra. 
Boards, used to signify all kinds of boards, not over an inch in 

thickness. 
Bogus, counterfeit, false, fraudulent. 
Boss, an employer, or superintendent of labour. 
Bonny clabber (Irish, baine, milk; and clabar, mud), milk turned 

sour and thick. 
Boodle, " the whole boodle of them," i. e. all, the whole. 
Bookstore, a place where books are sold ; it is the common term in 

the United States for what is called in England a bookseller's shop. 
Breadstuffs, anything from which bread is made. 
Buncombe, or bunkum, speech intended to catch the applause or 

favour of the vulgar. 
Bureau, universally used to the exclusion of " chest of drawers." ^ 
Calico, printed cotton goods ; in England all cotton goods in the piece. 
To calculate, to suppose, to believe, to think, to expect, intend, etc. 
Caucus, a private meeting of the leading politicians of a party to agree 

upon the plans to be pursued at an approaching election. 
Caption, the heading of a chapter, section, or page. 
To CAVE IN, to break down, give up. 

Chicken fixings, in the Western States a chicken fricassee. 
Chore, a small piece of domestic work, a little job, a char. 



362. DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OP AMERICA. 

Claim, a piece of land which a squatter settles upon, with the inten- 
tion of purchasing it when the Government offers it for sale. 

Cleyer, good-natured, obliging; in England quick-witted or intelligent. 

Corduroy road, a road or causeway constructed with logs laid 
together over swamps or marshy places. 

Corn, means only maize, in England it means all small grain. 

Crooked stick:, a cross-grained, perverse person. 

Creek, a small river; in England a small arm of the sea. 

Cruel, one of the numerous substitutes for very, exceedingly. 

To cry, to publish the banns of marriage in church. 

Cutter, a light one-horse sleigh. 

Dead head, a person who gets something of commercial value without 
special payment or charge ; persons who go by rail, travel in 
steamboats, or visit theatres without charge, are dead heads. 

Dead horse, work for which one has been paid before it is performed. 

Deck, a pack of cards. 

Declination, the refusal to accept a nomination to office. 

Desk, the pulpit in a church, and figuratively the clerical profession. 

Disremember, to forget, used chiefly in the Southern States. 

Doggery, a low drinking-house. 

Doless, inefficient, he is a doless sort of fellow. 

Dolittle, a drone, an idle person. 

Domestics, used only in the plural ; domestic goods, i. e. cotton goods 
of American manufacture. 

Dry-goods, a general term used by Americans to signify such articles 
as are sold by linen-drapers, haberdashers, mercers, drapers, 
hosiers, etc. The word " haberdashery " is almost unknown. 

Dull music, a term applied to anything tedious. 

Elephant, to see the elephant, is to gain experience of the world — 
generally at some cost to the investigator. 

Endorse, to signify sanction or approval. 

Evening, from noon till dark is evening in the South and West ; the 
term afternoon not being used. 

To eyektuate, to happen, to issue, to take effect, to result in. 

Everlasting, very, exceedingly. 

Expect, misused in application to past events, as " I expect it was." 

Eall, used instead of " fell," as " to fall a tree." 

To fan out, to make a show at an examination, alluding probably to 
the peacock spreading his tail. 

Eeed, used as a noun for grass, as tall feed, i. e. high grass. 

On the pence, in politics, neutrality, or readiness to join the strongest 
party whenever it can be ascertained which is so. 

Eillibuster, a freebooter. 

To eix, in England means to fasten or make firm ; in America it 
means almost anything in the way of putting in order, adjusting, 
mending, setting to rights, or making. 

Fix, a condition, predicament, or dilemma. 

Eizzle, a ridiculous failure. The figure is that of wet powder, which 
burns out with a hissing noise, without producing any effect. 



AMERICANISMS. 363 

To plat out, to collapse, to prove a failure, a "Western phrase applied 
to a political meeting — as, the meeting flatted out. 

Floor, used in Congress in the expression to " get the floor," that is, 
to obtain an opportunity of taking part in a debate. 

Flunk, a backing out, a total failure in a college recitation. 

Forever is one word in the United States, in England it is two. 

To get religion, to become pious ; in common use amongstcertain 
sects. 

Go to grass! be off! get out! 

To go one's death on a thing, is equivalent to " lay one's life " on it. 

To go the big figure, to da things on a large scale. 

To GO off, to expire. 

To go under, to perish, to fail in business. 

Going, travelling, as " the going is bad, owing to the deep snow." 

Gouge, to chouse, to cheat. 

Gouger, one who wants more than he is entitled to. 

Gubernatoeial, pertaining to a governor. 

Gush, a great abundance. 

Hack, in America, usually a hackney coach ; in England a livery- 
stable horse. 

Hardware, this word is used in America to the exclusion of iron- 
mongery ; hardware store, an ironmonger's shop. 

Heft, weight, ponderousness. 

Help, a servant, servants, or service. 

Highfaluten, highflown language, bombast. 

Hoboy, or Hautboy, a nightman. 

Homely, plain-featured, or ugly, in America ; in England it means 
pertaining to home, plain, simple. 

Hoss, a man remarkable for strength, courage, etc. 

Hostiles, enemies. 

Hura's nest, a state of confusion. 

Hurryment, hurry, confusion. 

Hyst, a violent fall. 

Inaugural, address of an official on his inauguration into office. 

Infair, the reception party or entertainment of a newly-married 
couple. 

Enow-nothings, a political party of native Americans, which origi- 
nated in the year 1853. 

Eool-sla, an American word of Dutch origin, signifying cabbage salad. 

Lambasting, a beating. 

Limsy, weak, flexible. 

Little end op the horn, to come out at the little end of the horn, 
is said when a ridiculously small effect has been produced after 
great effort and much boasting. 
Loafer, a lounger. 

Loan, frequently used as a verb ; in England, lend. 
Looed, defeated, a term borrowed from the game called loo. 
To love, for to like, " Do you love pumpkin pie ?" " I'd love to have 
that bonnet." 



364 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

Lobby, a verb, meaning to attempt to exercise an influence on mem- 
bers of a legislative body by persons not members. 

To lobby through, is to get a Bill adopted by such influence. 

Locate, to designate the place of anything, to settle in. 

Lot, a small tract of land, such as the subdivisions of a town. 

Lumber, sawn timber of every description, such as is intended for 
building. Lumbering means making lumber ; lumberman a 
person engaged in making it ; and lumber-merchant he who sells it. 

Mad, inflamed with anger, very angry, vexed. 

Mail is the word ordinarily used instead of the word " post." Ameri- 
cans say " mail a letter," "send it by mail." 

Middling interest, the middle class of people. 

Mud sill, the longitudinal timber laid upon the ground to form the 
foundation for a railway, hence figuratively applied to the labour- 
ing classes as the substratum of society. 

Music, amusement, fun, " Jim is a right clever fellow, there is a great 
deal of music in him." 

Mush, Indian meal, boiled in water, and eaten with milk or molasses ; 
it is often called hasty pudding. 

Muss, a corruption of mess, a state of confusion, a squabble, a row. 

Nary bed, a contraction for "ne'er a red cent," alluding to the 
copper cent. 

Nippent, impudent, impertinent. 

Nipping, mincing. 

Notions, small wares or trifles. 

Old country, a term applied to Great Britain. 

One horse, in the West, this term is applied to anything small, ae a 
one-horse bank, a one-horse town. 

To paddle one's own canoe, a figurative Western phrase, meaning 
to make one's own way in life. 

Pantaloons, the common American name for trousers. 

Pesky, plaguy, confounded. 

Pimping, little, petty. 

Pipe-laying, this term, in political parlance, means any arrangement 
by which a party makes sure of a certain addition to its legitimate 
strength in the hour of trial, that is, the election ; in other words, 
" to lay pipe " means to bring up voters not legally qualified. 

Poky, dull, stupid. 

Poor white polks, a term applied to the poor white population of 
the South j also called by the blacks poor buckra. 

Politician, a person who busies himself with the management and 
contests of a political party. In England a statesman. 

To pull foot, to walk fast, to run. 

Posted up, well informed, thoroughly conversant with. 

Bailroad, railroad track, railroad depot, and railroad car, are the 
American names for the English railway line, railway station, and 
railway carriage. The American travels " in the cars," the Eng- 
lishman " by rail." In the United States the iron horse is ordi- 
narily a " locomotive," in Britain an engine. 



AMERICANISMS. 365 

Raise, to rear ; in the Southern and Western States it is applied to 
individuals, as "he was raised in New York." 

Reckon, used in some parts of the United States, as " calculate " in 
New England, and " guess " in New York. 

Rendition, for rendering. 

To bun one's face, to make use of one's credit, to run one's face for 
a thing is to get it " on tick." 

Season, a common term in the South for a shower of rain, or period 
of wet weather, suitable for setting out tobacco and other plants. 

Semi-occasionallt, a cant phrase, meaning once in a while. 

Shin-plasteb, a cant term for a bank note or any paper money, and 
especially such as has depreciated in value. 

Shooting- ikon, a common Western term for a rifle, or fowling-piece. 

Slang whanging, political cant. 

Smaet, quick, active, shrewd, intelligent ; in England showy or witty. 

Snap, applied to sudden change of weather, as " a cold snap." 

Socdolager, this strange word is probably a perversion in spelling 
and pronunciation of doxology, a stanza sung at the close of 
religious services, as a signal of dismissal ; hence a socdolager is a 
conclusive argument ; the winding up of a debate, a settler j and 
figuratively, in a contest, a blow which brings it to a close. 

Soft coen, flattery. 

Some pumpkins, a term in use in the South and West in opposition 
to the equally elegant phrase, "small potatoes." The former is 
applied to anything large or noble, the latter to anything mean. 

Spaeking, to go a-sparking is to go a-courting. 

To split, to go at a rapid pace, to drive or dash along. 

To spread oneself, to exert oneself. 

Squattee, one that settles on new land without a title. 

Squatter soveeeignty, the right of the squatters, or actual residents 
of a Territory, to shape their own institutions. 

To stampede, to cause to scamper off in a fright. 

Strapped tight, out of money. 

Teetotallt, entirely, totally. 

To tell one good-bye, is the Southern phrase to bid one good-bye. 

Tooting tub, a puritanical term for a church organ. 

Train, a peculiar kind of sleigh. 

Teimmings, the accessories to any dish. 

Wide awake, on the alert, ready. 

Wiee pulling, or wire working, political managing. 

Yankee, the popular name for the citizens of New England, but applied 
by foreigners to all the inhabitants of the United States. The 
name (Yengees or Yenkees) was originally given by the Massa- 
chusetts Indians to the English colonists, being the nearest sound 
they could give for "English." It was afterwards adopted by 
the Dutch on the Hudson, who applied the term in contempt to 
all the people of New England. 



36G DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 



POPULAR NAMES AND MOTTOES OF STATES. 

Arkansas, the Bear State. Motto — Regnant popv.li, The People rule. 

California. Motto — Eureka. I have found it. 

Connecticut, the Land of Steady Habits, sometimes called the Blue 
Law State. Motto — Qui tvanslulit sustinet, Who planted still 
sustains. 

Delaware, the Blue Hen's chicken. Motto — Liberty and Inde- 
pendence. 

Elokida, Peninsular State. Motto — In God let us trust. 

Illinois, the Sucker State, said to have arisen from the fact that the 
Western prairies are in many places full of holes made by the 
crawfish, out of which early travellers, by means of a hollow reed, 
sucked up the pure water -which lay beneath. Motto — State 
Sovereignty. National Union. 

Indiana, the Hoosier State ; £vow.wliosyere, a gruff form of recaption. 

Iowa, the Hawkeye State, from an Indian chief, named Hawkeye, who 
was the terror of travellers on its border. Motto — Our liberties 
we prize, our rights we will maintain. 

Kentucky, the Corn-cracker. Motto — United we stand, divided 
we fall. 

Kansas. Motto — Ad asira per aspera, Through rough ways to the 
stars. 

Louisiana. Motto — Union and confidence. 

Maine, the Border State. Motto — Divigo, I direct, or take the lead. 

Massachusetts, the Bay State. The original name of the State was 
Massachusetts Bay. Motto — JEnse petit placidam sub libertate 
quietem, By the sword she seeks peace under liberty. 

Maryland. Motto — Industry the means, and plenty the result. 

Michigan, the Wolverine State, from the large numbers of wolves 
found there. Motto — Tuehor, I will defend it ; Si quaeris penin- 
sulam amcenam circumspice, If you seek a delightful country, 
look around. 

Minnesota. Motto — L'Moile du JS r ord, The Star of the North. 

Missouri, the Puke State. Motto — Solus populi suprema lex esto, 
The public safety is the supreme law. 

New Hampshire, the Granite State, from the abundance of that rock. 

North Carolina, the Old North State. 

New Yobk, the Empire State. Motto — Excelsior, Onward and 
Upward. 

Nebraska. Motto — Popular Sovereignty. 

Nevada, the Silver State. 

Ohio, the Buckeye State ; from the Buckeye tree, which grows plen- 
tifully on the river banks. Its bark exhales an unpleasant odour. 

Oregon. Motto — Alis volat propriis, She flies with her own wings. 



POPULAE NAMES AND MOTTOES OF STATES. 367 

Pennsylvania, the Keystone State. So called from its being the 
central State of the Union at the time of the formation of the 
Constitution. Motto — "Virtue, Liberty, and Independence. 

Rhode Island, Little Ehody. Motto — In Grod we hope. 

South Carolina, the Palmetto State. Motto — Animis opibus que 
parati, Ever ready with our lives and property. 

Texas, the Lone Star State. 

Vikginia, the Old Dominion. Motto — Sic semper iyrannis. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



CANADA. 



This vast tract of country was discovered and partially 
explored in 1534, by James Cartier, a French navigator, 
who took possession of it in the name of the king of France, 
and erected a wooden cross as a " token " of occupancy. 
The origin of the name Canada is uncertain, the gene- 
rally received opinion being that it was the term applied 
by the Indians to the country on both sides of the St. 
Lawrence when discovered by Cartier. Champlain was 
another early explorer, and by him was discovered the 
great lake to which his name was given, also the lakes 
Ontario and Nipissing. The country continued a depend- 
ency of France till 1629, when Quebec was captured by the 
British . In March, 1632, it was restored by the treaty of 
St. Germain, and it remained in the possession of the French 
till 1763, when, after a final struggle for supremacy, which 
lasted seven years, the whole country, then called the pro- 
vince of Quebec, was ceded to England. 

Canada has an area of about 350,000 square miles. 
This area was in 1791 divided by Act of Parliament into 
the two separate provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, 
the former containing 150,000 square miles, and the 
latter 200,000. In 1810 they were united, although for 
some purpose the old territorial divisions still exist. Upper 
Canada is that part of the new United Provinces which lies 
to the south and west of the River Ottawa, and Lower 
Canada comprises the country to the north and east of that 



CANADA. 369 

river. The former is now called Canada East, and the 
latter Canada West. 

The western boundary of Canada, west of Lake Win- 
nipeg, is yet undefined. The River St. Lawrence, and 
Lakes Ontario, Erie, St. Clair, Huron, and Superior, with 
their connecting rivers, form a wonderful natural boundary 
between Canada and the United States, and an excellent 
means of communication of great extent. 

Canada extends from the Gulf of St. Lawrence on the 
east, to the Rocky Mountains on the west, and is nearly 
three times the size of Great Britain and Ireland. The 
inhabited or settled portion of Canada covers already an 
extensive area of between 40,000 to 50,000 square miles. 
In the eastern section, or Lower Canada, the scenery 
is bold and imposing ; on the lower part of the St. Law- 
rence both sides of the river are mountainous ; and on 
the north side the range, which runs as far as Quebec, 
presents many sublime and picturesque aspects. On the 
south side the range called the Alleghanies, commences in 
Gaspe, follows the course of the river to within 60 miles of 
Quebec, where it turns south, and enters the United States. 
Above Quebec, on the north side of the river, and between 
that city and the River St. Maurice, the country rises 
gradually from the banks ; and from thence to Montreal, 
it becomes abrupt, with considerable table ridges. On 
the southern side of the river, commencing at Gaspe, 
the country is but partially explored. 

From Cape Chat to the Chaudiere, Canada extends 
along the south side of the St. Lawrence 257 miles, 
bounded by the line of the United States, in part defined 
by a high ridge of land. This district is traversed by 
ranges of hills, separated by extensive valleys. West of 
the Chaudiere, and extending to the 45th parallel, is a 
fertile stretch of country, which still further westward 

24 



370 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

becomes a luxuriant plain, through which run the rivers 
Richelieu and Yamaska. The southern part of this region, 
interspersed with ridges and considerable mountains, is 
possessed of varied and delightful scenery. The western, 
or upper section, is in general a champaign country, with 
gently undulating hills and rich valleys. At a distance of 
from 50 to 100 miles from Lake Ontario, there is a ridge 
of high rocky country running toward the Ottawa, or 
Grand River, and behind this is a wide valley of great 
extent, bounded on the north by an elevated and moun- 
tainous country. From Lake St. Francis, 35 miles above 
Montreal, to the Detroit, along the shores of the St. 
Lawrence and Lakes Ontario and Erie, there is not an 
elevation of any importance. 

In the rear of the St. Lawrence, detached peaks of the 
Laurentide mountains attain an elevation of 2000 or 3000 
feet above sea-level. The Notre Dame Mountains, in the 
district of Gaspe, are quite imposing ; they vary in width 
from two to six miles, and in height from 2000 to nearly 
4000 feet. Cape Torment, 30 miles below Quebec, is a 
round massive mountain 1000 feet high. 

The St. Lawrence is the great river of Canada, receiving 
in its course all the lesser streams of the country. If we 
include the chain of great lakes, it may be said to rise in 
the St. Louis, a small stream which flows into Lake 
Superior at its western extremity ; thence its course is 
through the lakes north-easterly to the sea. Its whole 
length is about 3000 miles, of which 672 miles represent 
the St. Lawrence proper, from the lakes to the sea. Its 
breadth varies from 1 to 90 miles, and by the aid of the 
Welland, St. Lawrence, and Lachine canals it is navigable 
for the whole distance of 3000 miles, vessels from 
Europe landing their cargoes at Chicago without tranship- 
ment. It is computed to carry past the city of Montreal 



CANADA. 371 

50,000,000 cubic feet of water per minute, and to pome 
annually 4,300,000 million tons of water, holding- in,_ 
solution 143,000,000 tons of solid materials, into the sea. 
At Quebec the river is 1314 yards wide, but the basin below 
the city is two miles across, and about three quarters 
of a mile long. From this point to the gulf, the great 
river goes swelling onward, and increasing as it goes. 
Below Quebec the St. Lawrence is never frozen over, but 
in the winter the force of the great volume of water, as it 
ebbs and flows, detaches large masses of ice from the 
shores ; and these being kept in continual agitation, navi- 
gation is rendered impracticable during a portion of the 
winter season. In the St. Lawrence " all the phenomena 
of a mighty river may be witnessed on a stupendous 
scale, its irresistible ice masses in midwinter crushing 
and grinding one another ; its wide- spreading and devas- 
tating floods in spring ; its swelling volume stealing- 
on with irresistible power in the summer, broken here 
and there by tumultuous and surging rapids, or by swift 
and treacherous currents, or by vast and inexhaustible 
lakes. As it approaches the ocean it rolls on between 
iron-bound coasts, bearing the tributary waters of a region 
equal to half Europe in area." The Island of Anticosti at 
the mouth of the river is a large desert island, 130 miles 
long and 30 broad. Many other islands stud the river, some 
of which have a considerable population. 

The Ottawa River is the second largest in Canada- 
Rising about 300 miles above Lake Temiscaming, it flows, 
thence 350 miles to its entrance into the St. Lawrence at 
the upper extremity of the Island of Montreal. It drains 
in its course, by the aid of its tributaries, an area of from 
70,000 to 80,000 square miles. Its width is very irregular, 
varying from 50 yards to 10 miles, and the river is often 
lost in the chain of lakes through which it runs. It has 



372 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

also a number of precipitous falls, forming beautiful 
cascades. The water power of the Ottawa is almost un- 
limited, and it has been rendered navigable in places 
by the construction of canals to overcome the difficulties 
occasioned by falls and rapids. Some of its tributaries are 
equal in size to the largest rivers in Europe. 

The Saguenay is a majestic river, and the third largest 
in Canada, having its clebouchovre into the St. Lawrence at 
the port of Tadousac, below Quebec. It has an average 
width of three quarters of a mile, and is navigable for 
large vessels 190 miles. The ebb and flow of the tide is 
exceedingly strong, being nearly as great at Chicontimi, 
75 miles up, as at its mouth. The banks of the river are 
high and precipitous, and winding as it does among the 
mountains with their " tall figures and dim shadows," its 
scenery is strikingly bold and picturesque. The Ottawa 
has more than thirty tributary streams. 

The St. Maurice, which has been traced for a distance 
of 380 miles, empties into the St. Lawrence at three 
rivers. It drains with its numerous tributaries an area of 
14,000 or 15,000 square miles. It is navigable for a few 
miles from its mouth ; after which the navigation is inter- 
rupted as far as the Grand Piles, a distance of 44 miles, 
when there occurs another navigable stretch of 75 miles, 
on which a steamer runs. It is the thoroughfare of a great 
timber trade, extensive slides and booms for which have 
been constructed by the Government. Along the great 
western branch of this river there is an extraordinary chain 
of twenty-three lakes of immense depth. The peninsula of 
Upper Canada is almost destitute of navigable rivers, 
though watered by a number of small streams. The Thames, 
which falls into Lake St. Clair, is navigable for only 
80 miles. The principal rivers which fall into Lake Huron, 
on the Canadian side, are the Thessalon, the Missisaga, 



CANADA. 373 

the Serpent, the Spanish, and the White Fish. The 
Spanish is the largest, and is navigable 35 miles for craft 
drawing not more than five feet of water. The others are 
not navigable. The White Fish River is simply a chain of 
lakes, the elevation of its upper waters being 1,500 feet 
above the level of the sea. 

A Ml description of the great chain of Lakes is given 
in Chapter I. The other lakes of any extent are, Lake 
St. John's (the source of the Saguenay River), about 35 
miles broad by 45 miles long; and Lake Nipissing, 35 
miles broad by about 70 miles long. Besides these there 
are a number of small lakes, many of which have not 
yet been fully explored. 

The geological conformation of Canada, so far as it has 
been ascertained, is in general granitic. A large portion 
exposes the bare crystalline sedimentary rocks — the oldest, 
as far as is known, in the world, called the " Lauren- 
tian Series," after the river St. Lawrence, are de- 
veloped on a stupendous scale. This series is of 
enormous thickness, probably exceeding 20,000 feet, 
Overlying the Laurentian formation, along the northern 
shore of Lake Huron, and many parts of Lake Superior, 
various slates, sandstones, and conglomerates occur, with a 
few bands of limestone, and thick, intercalated beds of 
trap ; to these Logan has given the name of Huronia»v 
In many places the series is 18,000 feet thick, In the 
neighbourhood of Quebec a reddish or dark grey slate 
generally appears, and it forms the bed of the St. Law- 
rence and Lake Ontario as far as Niagara. The strata 
laid bare in the chasm at the Falls of Niagara are, first > 
limestone ; next, slate ; and the lowest, sandstone, The- 
upper and lowermost of these compose the secondary- 
formations of a large portion of Canada. Slate is, how- 
ever, often interposed, as at Niagara, where it is 40 feet 



374 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

thick, fragile as shale, and crumbles away beneath the 
limestone. The whole of the peninsula of Canada West, the 
valley of the St. Lawrence south of the Laurentians, and 
the valleys and depressions in the peninsula of Gaspe, are 
more or less deeply covered with clays interstratified with 
gravel which belong to quaternary deposits, and in some 
parts overlaid by alluvium. The stratified clays, sands, 
and gravels contain, often at an altitude of 500 feet above 
the sea-level, the remains of many species of marine 
.animals, identified with those now found in the Gulf of 
'St. Lawrence. Sixty-three specimens of marine inverte- 
brates, from the post-pliocene or pleistocene clays of the 
St. Lawrence Valley, have been disinterred. 

On July 5, 1663, a tremendous earthquake occurred in 
Canada. The shocks extended over 200,000 square miles 
of country, and continued with great violence for fifteen 
minutes. Perturbations were felt for a period of six 
months afterwards. On the authority of a manuscript 
account of it in the Jesuits' College, it changed the entire 
face of the country, causing mountains to disappear, and 
forming lakes where mountains had stood before. The 
fountains were dried up, and the colour of the rivers 
changed, some of them having their waters tinged with 
.red, others with yellow, and others — the St. Lawrence, 
for example — white. Two mountains are also said to have 
!>een precipitated into the latter river. The account is 
probably exaggerated, though in many places there occur 
deep fissures from six inches to two feet wide, from forty 
to fifty feet deep, and several miles long, which are doubt- 
less the result of some violent subterranean action. They 
are frequently covered with a dense brushwood, and are 
therefore exceedingly dangerous to the traveller. 

The Mineral Resources of Canada are immense. Iron, 
zinc, lead , copper, gold, nickel, antimony, and silver are found. 



CANADA. 375 

In the mountains north of the Saguenay, magnetic iron 
abounds to such an extent as to influence the needle of the 
mariner's compass. The Laurentian series of rocks con- 
tain immense beds of valuable iron ore, principally the 
magnetic oxide, several hundred feet thick. The Mar- 
mora Iron Mine, Belmont, commonly known as the Big 
Iron Ore Bed of Marmora, is a large deposit of this ore. 
It appears, however, not to be a single bed, but a succes- 
sion of them (one measuring 100 feet in thickness), in- 
terstratified with thin bands of crystalline limestone and 
talcose slate. The breadth of the mass is eight chains. 
The ore contains between 60 and 70 per cent, of iron. 
Deposits of bog-iron ore, or limonite, in greater or less 
abundance, occur in patches on the north side of the St. 
Lawrence, and between it and the foot of the Laurentide 
Hills, all the way from Ste. Anne des Plaines to Portneuf, 
a distance exceeding 100 miles. In this area the ore seems 
to be most concentrated in the neighbourhood of the St. 
Maurice and Batiscan rivers ; and iron has been smelted 
in the neighbourhood of Three Rivers for upwards of a 
century. The Huronian rocks are eminently copper- 
bearing, the chief deposits being about Lakes Superior 
and Huron. The dreary wastes northward of the former 
lake contain stores of copper perhaps unsurpassed in the 
world. At the Coppermine River, 300 miles from Sault 
Ste. Marie, the metal occurs in great masses in a pure 
state. 450 lbs. of native copper, in a single sheet, was sent 
as a specimen to the London International Exhibition of 
1862 from the Mamainse mines of Lake Superior. The 
deposits of gold ascertained to exist in the eastern part of 
the province have repaid very fully the labour applied with 
judgment to the working, of them. At Fief St. Charles, 
nuggets of native gold have been found, some of them 
weighing from 10 dwts. to 126 dwts. 



376 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

The northern and western shores of Lake Ontario 
abound in salt springs, some of which are very productive. 
The northern shore of Lake Erie has immense beds of 
gypsum, and abounds in asphaltum. Peat occurs near 
Chambly, on the south side of the St. Lawrence. As 
Canada is deficient in coal, when wood becomes scarce in 
the progress of settlement, peat will gradually assume 
some importance as a fuel in many parts of the country. 
It occurs in great abundance in many places in the pro- 
vince ; about 100 square miles of it extend along the south 
front of the Island of Anticosti. Natural springs of 
petroleum have long been known to exist in several locali- 
ties in Western Canada. In the extreme west of the 
province, in the upper portion of the Devonian strata, 
extraordinarily productive springs have been tapped by 
boring to the depth of from 100 to 200 feet. Some of 
these send pure petroleum 30 feet above the surface of 
the ground, and yield, it is estimated, 15,000 barrels a day. 
Wells, sunk to a depth of from 40 to 60 feet through the 
superficial clays, encounter a stratum of gravel resting on 
the surface of the rock beneath, and often filled with oil. 
Some wells bored in 1861 are stated to have yielded from 
400 to 500 barrels of oil in a week or two after having 
been opened. Two wells yielded together, for some 
months, from 20 to 25 barrels daily. Natural oil-springs 
occur in various other places. On the banks of the Thames 
they abound for a distance of four miles. The oil-bearing 
region has an area of 7000 square miles. 

The area embraced by the crystalline rocks is about 
240,000 square miles in extent, 200,000 square miles of 
which may be said to be incapable of cultivation. That 
occupied by the sedimentary rocks is about 80,000 square 
miles, and possesses in general a rich alluvial soil. The 
soils in the western part of the province are chiefly drift, 



CANADA. 377 

or the debris of the crystalline rocks of the Lauren- 
tides and of the sedimentary rocks lying to the north of 
any particular locality. In the extreme western peninsula 
the rich clays consist of remodled drift, and in the valley 
of the St. Lawrence, below Montreal, the clays are marine, 
and not unfrequently contain a considerable portion of 
calcareous matter. On the south shores of the river, 
below Quebec, the soil consists chiefly of the debris of the 
red slates which are found in that region. The area 
covered by arable soil in the rocky region of the Lauren- 
tides is comparatively small, the fertile belts or strips con- 
sisting either of drift or the ruins of limestone rock. 

The western peninsula has been called the garden of 
Canada. It has an excellent soil, well suited to the pro- 
duction of every kind of grain, especially to the growing 
of wheat. It has but little waste land, and the greater 
portion is under careful cultivation. The valleys and 
slopes of the hills in the peninsula of Gaspe have 
generally a rich soil, free from stones ; but the inequalities 
of the surface, and the steepness of the hill-sides, even 
where the mountains do not extend, are often such as to 
prevent cultivation. That portion of the peninsula which 
fronts on the county of Bonaventure possesses a surface 
and soil as favourable as any portion of Lower Canada ; 
good crops of grain can be raised at an elevation of 1000 
feet above the level of the sea. 

The valley of the St. Maurice is estimated to contain 
3,500,000 acres of arable land, that portion lying along the 
river being very fertile. Along some of the branches are 
fine stretches of table-land. On the north-east side of the 
Ottawa is a strip of low land of exceedingly good quality, 
from four to six miles wide, and extending 120 miles above 
the city of Ottawa. Settlement is now chiefly directed to 
the extensive district on the south-west side of the Ottawa 



378 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

River, between it and Georgian Bay. This region, extending 
200 miles above the city of Ottawa, is 200 miles wide at 
its lower end, 100 miles at its npper, and contains large and 
continuous tracts of fertile land. It is divided into districts 
named " Red Pine," "White Pine," and " Hard Wood," from 
tshe prevalence of those woods in the respective localities. The 
Red Pine country is sandy and poor, with a rugged uneven 
surface, and is pronounced to be, except in a few places, unfit 
for settlement. The White Pine country, which lies to the 
east, contains good land, generally fit for agricultural pur- 
poses. The Hard Wood district is unfit for settlement, 
except between Lake Mpissing and Lake Opeongo. Be- 
tween the Batcheewana and Groulais Bays, and the Missi- 
saga, the country is fine, presenting broad flats of a deep 
alluvial soil. The whole country where it has been ex- 
plored, between Lake Superior and Lake Nipissing, pre- 
sents among the rugged and broken portions that occur 
occasionally, many extensive valleys of excellent land, 
well adapted for settlement, the finest land in the whole 
distance being that between the Batcheewana Bay and the 
Missisaga River. North of Lake Huron the valleys are a 
deep deposit of decomposed vegetable matter, with a sub- 
soil of blue clay. The greater portion of the land is thickly 
wooded with pines, ash, maple, butternut, walnut, cherry, 
bass, sycamore, button wood, alder, willow, cedar, tama- 
rack. Mowers and shrubs of great beauty and variety 
abound. Among the wild fruits are the cherry, grapes, 
black and red currants, gooseberries, raspberries, cran- 
berries, plums, and strawberries. Nearly all vegetables 
and fruits of temperate climes thrive in Canada under 
proper cultivation, particularly in the western region. In 
the southern districts peaches and apples are produced in 
great abundance, and pumpkins and squashes grow in the 
open fields. 



CANADA. $79 

The wild animals are gradually retreating before the 
advancing settlements. Formerly the whole of Canada 
formed a vast hunting ground, now, however, the bears, 
wolves, and foxes are gradually disappearing, as well as the 
smaller animals, such as beavers, martens, minks, marmots, 
and musk-rats. A large number of these are trapped for 
.the sake of their furs. Deer are still abundant, and black 
squirrels are extremely so. The brown hare, a native of 
Canada, is about the size of an English rabbit ; in winter 
;the colour of its fur changes to white. Swans, turkeys, 
woodcocks, and snipes are occasionally met with ; pigeons 
.are numerous in spring and autumn, also ducks and geese. 
There are numerous eagles, kites, hawks, herons, bitterns, 
and crows ; and beside these are many beautiful smaller 
birds. Wild bees are found in large numbers in the woods 
and forests. In the lakes and rivers a variety of fish are 
caught, the principal being the sturgeon, salmon- trout, 
white-fish, pike, pickerel, and bass. 

The climate of Canada is exceedingly varied, though 
on the whole it is much colder than that of Europe in the 
same parallels. In the neighbourhood of the great lakes 
the temperature is milder than in more remote localities. 
The prevailing winds are north-east, north-west, and south- 
west. " The general salubrity of the province," says Mr. 
Hogan, " is sufficiently proved by its cloudless skies, its 
elastic air, and almost entire absence of fogs. The clear- 
ness of the atmosphere has a most invigorating effect upon, 
the spirits. The winter frosts are severe and steady, and 
the summer suns are hot, and bring on vegetation with 
wonderful rapidity. It is true that the spring of Canada 
differs much from the spring of many parts of Europe ;. 
but after her long winter the crops start up as if by magic,, 
.and reconcile her inhabitants to the loss of that whish,, 
-elsewhere, is often the sweetest season of the year. If* 



DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

however, Canada has but a short spring, she can boast of 
an autumn deliriously mild, and often lingering on with its 
Indian summer and golden sunsets, until the month of 
December. A Canadian winter, the mention of which 
some years ago, in Europe, conveyed almost a sensation 
of misery, is hailed rather as a season of increased enjoy- 
ment than of privation and discomfort by the people. In- 
stead of alternate rain, snow, sleet, and fog, with broken 
up and impassable roads, the Canadian has clear skies, a 
fine, bracing atmosphere, with the rivers and many of the 
smaller lakes frozen, and the inequalities in the rough 
tracks through the woods made smooth by snow, the whole 
face of the country being literally macadamized by nature 
for a people as yet unable to macadamize for themselves." 
Canada is essentially an agricultural country. A rapid 
improvement in the manner of cultivation is taking place, 
in furtherance of which numerous agricultural societies 
are established for the encouragement of scientific farming. 
Government have also from time to time granted assist- 
ance, and has endeavoured to foster the agriculture of the 
country by the passing of various acts, and the formation 
of an agricultural Bureau. The number of occupiers and 
acres in 1851 and 1861 were as follows : — 

1851. 1861. 

Occupiers 195,684 237,654 

Amount of land held. .17,939,796 23,730,425 acres. 
Improved farms are sold at prices varying from £2 to 
£20 an acre, according to the quality and situation of the 
lot, and the value of the houses, barns, stables, fences, 
etc., upon them. Land adapted for farming purposes can 
seldom be obtained from land companies, speculators, or 
private individuals, under twenty shillings an acre ; but 
Crown lands can be purchased at an average price of four 
shillings per acre. Every purchaser, however, must be- 



CANADA. 381 

come an actual settler, and have under cultivation at least 
ten acres out of every hundred within four years. The 
purchase-money of the Crown lands is payable in five or 
ten years, and many private holders dispose of their lauds 
on a credit of twenty years, the purchasers paying yearly 
interest, and having the power of completing the purchase 
at any time. In order to encourage immigration the 
Government offers Free grants of 100 acres of land to 
settlers on the following conditions : — 

1 st. That the settler be 18 years of age ; that he takes 
possession of the land allotted to him within one month ; 
that he puts into a state of cultivation twelve acres of land 
in the course of four years ; and that he builds a log house, 
twenty by eighteen feet, and resides on the lot until all con- 
ditions are fulfilled. Families may reside together in one 
lot, and do not require to build houses on each of their lots. 

The chief grain crops are oats and wheat. Potatoes 
and peas are also raised, and a considerable quantity of 
maple sugar is made. The following table shows the value 
of the grain and other staples for 1861, grown in Upper 
and Lower Canada respectively : — 

Upper Canada. Lower Canada. 

Wheat fall . . 7,537,651 bushels 65,630 

Wheat spring 17,082,774 „ 2,588,726 

Barley 2,821,962 „ 281^674 

Eye 973,181 „ 844,192 

Oats 21,220,874 „ 17,551,296 

Buckwheat 1,248,637 „ 1,250,025 

Indian corn 2,256,290 „ 334,861 

Peas 9,601,396 „ 2,648,777 

Beans 49,143 „ 21,384 

Potatoes 15,325,920 „ 12,770,471 

Turnips 18,206,959 „ 892,434 

Carrots 1,905,598 „ 293,067 



382 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

Upper Canada. Lower Canada* 

Mangel-wurzel .... 546,971 bushels 207,256- 

Grass and clover seed 61,818 „ 33,954 

Hay 861,844 tons 609,97F 

Hops 247,052 pounds 53,387' 

Max and hemp 1,225,934 „ 1,231,975 

Maple sugar 6,970,605 „ 9,325,147 

Cider 1,567,831 gallons 21,011 

Garden and orchard) , a nn , „„ 

, £ 1,304,145 dollars 884,659 

products ; 

The value of the live stock in 1861 was in Upper Canada 
$52,227,486 (£10,445,497) ; in Lower Canada, §25,751,798 
(£5,156,359). The animal products were as follows : — 
Upper Canada. Lower Canada. 

Beef 67,508 barrels 67,054 

Butter 26,828,264 pounds 15,906,949 

Cheese 2,687,172 „ 686,297 

Wool 3,659,766 „ 1,967,388 

Pork 336,744 barrels 196,598 

Manufactures are making considerable progress. The 
cutting and preparing of timber for market is the principal 
industry, and " lumbering," as it is called, employs not less 
than twenty-five thousand persons. Government works,, 
technically called " slides," have been constructed on the 
sides of the falls on the great rivers down which the timber 
is floated. The greater portion is exported to England. 
This class of exports in 1861, probably representing about 
three-fourths of the value of the whole produce, was 
$9,572,645 (£1,91 4,529). The " home-made " goods manu- 
factured by farmers' families were as follows : — 

Fulled cloth 1,394,711 yards. 

Flannel 2,827,489 „ 

Linen 2,247,377 „ 



CANADA. 383 

A reciprocity treaty was entered into between the 
United States and Great Britain on June 5, 1854, and 
proved fruitful of benefits to both countries. The follow- 
ing is a brief summary of its provisions : — I. It gave the 
inhabitants of the United States the right to take fish of 
any kind in the waters of any of the British provinces^ 
without restriction ; and permission to land on the shore 
for the purpose of drying their nets and curing fish. II. It 
gave British subjects the liberty to take fish on the eastern 
coasts and shores of the United States north of 36° paral- 
lel, with the same privileges as to landing. III. Certain 
articles, as grain, flour, breadstuff's, annuals, meats, lum- 
ber, poultry, wool, ores manufactured, tobacco, rice, being 
the growth of British colonies or of the United States, are 
admitted free of duty, respectively. This treaty was sus- 
pended in 1866, at the requisition of the United States. 

The trade of Canada is chiefly with Great Britain and 
the United States, the latter having the largest share. In 
the year ending June 30, 1865, the imports into Canada 
were of the value of $44,620,000 (£8,914,000). The exports 
amounted to 342,481,151 (£8,496,230), about half of the 
amount going to the United States. The following table 
shows the relative value of the various articles making up 
the total : — 

Products of the mine $5 75,000 

Fisheries 89,000 

Lumber 5,000,000 

Animals and animal products . . . 7,000,000 

Agricultural products 8,300,000 

Bullion 1,600,000 

Miscellaneous 300,000 



§22,864,000 (£4,572,800) 



384 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

The products of the mines for 1861 were — 

Tons. Value. 

Copper, native ... 18 $2,414 

„ ore 7364 440,130 

Iron ore 932 2,430 

Pig-iron 321 5,759 

Stone — 4,230 

Total $454,963 (£90,992) 

The fisheries, embracing the Gulf of St. Lawrence and 
the lakes, employ from 1200 to 1500 boats, and about 100 
vessels. The following quantities and values of fish were 
exported in 1861 : — 

Dried fish 143,783 cwts. $420,631 

Pickled fish... 86,084 „ 203,451 

Fresh fish ... — 16,426 

Oil 506,027 gals. 255,356 



$5,476,006 (£1,095,201) 

The European population of Canada consists of two 
classes. The French inhabitants, who were found in the 
colony when the English took possession, constitute about 
five-sixths of the population of Lower Canada, while Upper 
Canada is almost exclusively occupied by the later immi- 
grant population, chiefly of British origin. Both classes 
have increased rapidly, especially within the last fifty 
years, or what may fitly be termed the emigration era. 

In 1622 Quebec contained only 70 persons. Fifty 
years afterwards the population of Canada amounted to 
about 10,000, and from that time it steadily advanced. 
In 1800 it was estimated at 240,000, in 1825 it amounted 



CANADA. 385 

to 581,920, and in 1851 to 1,842,265. The census of 1861 
gives the total population as follows : — 

Upper Canada 1,396,091 

Lower Canada 1,111,566 



2,507,657 



Within the ten years ending with the census year the 
increase was at the rate of 42*4 per cent. It is estimated 
that in January, 1864, the population amounted to 
2,783,079, or about eight to the square mile — the rate of 
increase being about 4*34 per cent, in Upper and 2*50 in 
Lower Canada. 

A large emigration to Canada is continually taking 
place from various European and other countries. The 
following is a table of the nativities of those immigrants 
who landed between the years 1857 and 1860 : — 

1857. 1858- 1859. 1860. 

England 15,471 6,441 4,846 6,481 

Ireland 2,016 1,153 417 376 

Scotland 3,218 1,424 793 979 

Germany 4,961 922 966 533 

Norway 6,407 2,656 1,756 1,781 

Other countries 24 214 



32,097 12,810 8,778 10,150 

In 1864 the number of steerage immigrants who arrived 
in Canada was estimated at 34,779. In both sections of 
the Canadian territory small bodies of Indians remain, and 
some of these have made considerable advancement in 
the arts of civilization. This is especially the case in 
Upper Canada, where unusual care has been taken to pro- 

25 



386 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

tect tliem from imposition, and provide for them regular 
means of support. The number of Indians, including the 
•wandering tribes, is estimated at about 15,000. The negro 
population, which numbers 7500, consists principally of 
fugitives from the late slaveholding section of the 
United States. 

The political constitution of Canada is based upon the 
Act 31 Geo. III. cap. 31, passed by the Parliament of 
Great Britain in 1791. A final modification of this by an 
Act passed in 1853 comprises the fundamental laws now in 
force. The charter vests the legislative authority in a 
Parliament of two houses. The Legislative Council consists 
of twenty-four members nominated for life by the Governor, 
and of forty-eight members elected by the people ; and the 
House of Assembly consists of 130 members, chosen in 125 
electoral districts and boroughs. Members must be pos- 
sessed of freehold property to the value of £800. They 
have an allowance from the public funds during the session. 
The House is elected for four years, but may be dismissed 
before the expiration of that time by the Governor, in 
which case a new election immediately ensues. The 
Speaker of the House is elected by the members, and has 
a salary of £800 per annum. The President of the Legis- 
lative Council is elected for life, with a salary of £1250. 
Clergymen of all denominations are prohibited from becom- 
ing members of the Legislature. The executive is vested 
in a Governor- General, appointed by the Crown. He is 
styled " Governor- General of British North America," and 
has a salary of £7000 per annum. His authority is held 
in the name of the Sovereign of Great Britain, and he has 
the power of giving or withholding his consent to bills 
passed by the Parliament, and such bills as are assented to 
by the Governor may be disallowed by the Sovereign. 
The Governor- General is assisted by a Council or Cabinet, 



CANADA. 387 

consisting of twelve members, each of whom receive a 
salary £1250 per annum. 

As a part of the British Empire, Canada enjoys perfect 
religious, social, and political freedom. Three years' resi- 
dence entitles a foreigner to all the rights and privileges of 
a natural -born citizen. Aliens can buy, hold, and sell land. 
The elective franchise is nearly universal, every man pay- 
ing an annual household rental of $30 (£6) in the cities 
and towns, and $20 (£4) in the rural districts, being- 
entitled to vote. The municipal system is admirable. 
The counties are divided into townships of about ten miles 
square. The inhabitants of a township elect annually five 
councillors, who elect from their number a presiding officer, 
designated the Township Reeve ; the reeves and the deputy 
reeves of the different townships form the County Council ; 
this council elect their presiding officer, styled the Warden. 
In each county there is a judge, a sheriff, one or more 
coroners, a clerk of the peace, a clerk of the county 
court, a registrar, and justices of the peace, who are 
appointed by the Governor in Council. All township 
reeves, wardens, mayors, and aldermen are, ex officio, jus- 
tices of the peace. 

Educational facilities are rapidly increasing through 
the development of a free school system, open to all, and 
sustained partly by a general tax and partly by local self- 
imposed taxation, and occasionally by the payment of a 
small monthly fee for each scholar. Each school section is 
governed by an elective corporation, styled School Trustees, 
and is supplied, partly at Government expense, with a 
small library of select literature. Grammar schools are 
rapidly improving in character, while numerous colleges 
and universities place professional training and instruction 
in the higher departments of learning and science within 
the reach of the possessors of moderate means. The num- 



388 



DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 



ber of educational establishments in 1864 was 4225, with 
371,695 pupils. 

The number of members of each religious denomination, 
according to the census of 1861, was as follows : — 



Religious Denomination. 


Upper 
Canada. 


Lower 
Canada. 


Church of England 


311,565 
258,141 

108,963 

143,043 

51,378 

218,427 

71,615 

28,200 

23,330 

61,559 

24,299 

9,357 

7,383 

8,801 

5,018 

1,050 

7,514 

4,147 

614 

8,965 

2,234 

634 

74 

17,373 

8,121 

14,286 


63,487 
943,253 

23,730 

14,856 

5,149 

25,957 

2,537 

1,292 

874 

7,751 

857 

4,927 

121 

184 

298 

2,305 

2,5S4 

5 

572 

2J289 

652 
3 

1,477 

5,728 

678 


„ Rome 


Presbyterians — 

Church of Scotland 


Free Church of Scotland 

United , 

Methodists — 

Wesleyan 

Episcopal 


New Connection 


Other 

Baptists 

Lutherans 

Congregationalists 

Quakers 

Bible Clmstians , 

Christians 

" Second Adventists " 


Protestants 

"Disciples" 


Jews 

Menonists and " Tunkers " 

" Universalists " 

Unitarians 

Mormon s 

"JNo religion" 


Denomination not stated 


Other creeds not classed 


Total... 


1,396,091 


1,111,566 



The greatest toleration is allowed in religious matters. 
" While, however, all religions are respected by law and 
by the people, there are strict distinctions jealously pre- 
served between churches of different denominations. In 
Lower Canada the population are almost all Roman 
Catholics ; while in Upper Canada the population are 



CANADA. 389 

nearly all Protestants. Ministers of every sect are marked 
by earnestness and zeal in the performance of their religious 
duties, and in no country, not even excepting Scotland, is 
there to be found so uniform an observance of the Sabbath 
in accordance with strict Protestant views." 

In 1864 a Prohibitory Permissive Bill passed the 
Canadian Legislature, and received the royal assent. The 
act allows town councils to pass a by-law prohibiting the 
common sale of intoxicating liquors. It also enables the 
electors of any place, on a requisition with certain signa- 
tures, to demand a poll for passing such by-law indepen- 
dently of the municipal council — a majority of votes to 
carry or defeat the by-law. The law is prohibitory except, 
so far as it enables brewers, distillers, and merchants, to 
sell in quantities of not less than five gallons, or twelve 
bottles. It is therefore a law permitting municipal by- 
laws to prohibit all sale for consumption on the premises, 
and all retail sale for consumption off the premises. 

Numerous railways have been constructed in Canada, 
and are generally connected with the railways of the 
United States. The first, completed in 1837, extended 
from Lapraire, on the St. Lawrence, to St. John's, a village 
on the Richelieu River, sixteen miles. In 1845, the St. 
Lawrence and Atlantic Railway was chartered, and was 
the beginning of the now extensive line known as the 
Grand Trunk Railway of Canada, which, with its branches, 
has a length of over 900 miles. The following table shows 
the progress of railway construction for the ten years 
ending 1861 : — 

Year. Miles. 

1857 1,601 

1858 1,683 

1859 1,818 

1860 1,894 

1861 1,975 



Year. 

1852 


Miles. 
286 


1853 


668 


1854 


919 


1855 


. 1,172 


1856 


1,501 



390 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OP AMERICA. 

The total cost of the same has been about 3123,500,000 
(£24,700,000), or $60,688 (£12,137) per mile. 

The Canals of Canada have been constructed chiefly 
with a view to overcome the falls and rapids of the great 
rivers, and open up an uninterrupted navigation to the 
commerce of the country. The Bideau Canal is the largest, 
being 126 miles in length. The total number of miles in 
operation in 1861 was 243. 

The Electric Telegraph passes through every town 
and almost every village ; the number of miles in opera- 
tion in 1861 being 4046. Everywhere postal communica- 
tion is complete. The most distant hamlet has its post 
office, the number of offices in Canada being about 1974. 

Quebec, until recently one of the seats of the Colonial 
Government, is the chief city and seaport of Canada. 
The city stands on the north-west bank of the river St. 
Lawrence, and occupies an elevated angle formed by the 
confluence of that river with the St. Charles. The citadel 
occupies the summit of this angle, whence the town 
extends north-westerly to the river. The Upper and 
Lower Town, so called on account of their relative eleva- 
tions, are united by a winding street and flight of steps. 
The city was founded in 1608 by the geographer Cham- 
plain. It fell into the possession of the British in 1619, 
but was restored three years later. The English made an 
unsuccessful attempt to regain possession in 1690 ; how- 
ever, it did not finally come into their hands until taken by 
General "Wolfe in 1759. Two destructive fires swept away 
the distinctive features of the old town, and broader streets 
and better- ventilated houses have taken their place. The 
citadel is a massive defence. Its impregnable position 
makes it perhaps the strongest fortress on the continent, 
and the name of the " Gibraltar of America " has been often 
given to it. The access to the citadel is from the Upper 



CANADA. 391 

Town, the walls of which are entered by five gates. The 
churches, chapels, and public buildings are substantially 
built ; the educational institutions are numerous, and ably 
conducted ; several newspapers are published, and widely 
circulated ; and European literature has lost none of its in- 
terest. The majority of the inhabitants are of French origin. 
Montreal, the most populous city in British North 
America, is picturesquely situated at the foot of the Royal 
Mountain, from which it takes its name, upon a large 
island at the confluence of the Ottawa and St. Lawrence. 
The population is over 75,000, and steadily increasing. 
The houses in the suburbs are handsomely built in the 
modern style. Including its suburbs, of which it has 
several, the city stretches along the river for two miles, 
and extends between one and two miles inland. It was 
formerly surrounded by a battlemented wall ; but this 
having fallen into decay, it is now entirely open. The 
quays are unsurpassed by those of any city in America ; 
built of solid limestone, and uniting with the locks and 
cut stone wharves of the Lachine Canal, they present for 
several miles a display of continuous masonry. A broad 
terrace, faced with grey limestone, the parapets of which 
are surmounted with a substantial iron railing, divides the 
city from the river throughout its whole extent. Montreal 
was, until 1849, the seat of the United Canadian govern- 
ment. A riot which occurred in that year, and resulted 
in the burning of the Parliament House, occasioned the 
transfer of the seat of government to Quebec and Toronto. 
Toronto, the metropolis of Upper Canada, is on the north 
shore of Lake Ontario. The city, which is in the form of a 
parallelogram, is built with great regularity, and the streets 
are generally well paved, spacious, and lighted with gas. 
The houses are substantial, and the principal thoroughfares 
present in many parts an elegant appearance. The public 



392 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK OF AMERICA. 

buildings are numerous ; those especially worthy of atten- 
-t^ion are the Episcopal and Roman Catholic cathedrals, the 
City Hall, and the Normal and Training Schools. The 
other important edifices are the University and Colleges, 
the Parliament House, the Observatory, Athenasum, etc. 

Ottawa, is a prosperous and growing city, situated 
amid delightful scenery. It has been selected for the 
future capital of Canada. The parliament buildings in 
course of erection are exceedingly handsome. The estimated 
cost of their construction is £75.000. 






TEE END. 



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G. W. Bacon & Co., 



A BEAUTIFUL PRINT OF THE GREAT EASTERN ; size 

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CAETE PHOTOGRAPHS OF 300 AMERICAN CELEBRI- 
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Adams, C. F., U.S. Minister 

Bancroft, Historian 

Bateman, Miss, Actress 

Beecher, Rev. H. W. 

Beecher, Dr. Leyman ) 

Beecher, Rev. H. W. J- Group 

Mrs. H. B. Stowe ) 

Beauregard, General 

Breckenridge, General 

Brownlow, Governor 

Bryant, Win. Cullen, Poet 

Burnside, A. E., General 

Butler, B. F., General 

Chase, Chief Justice U.S. 

Cheever, Rev. Dr. 

Confederate Army and Navy 
Group 

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Davis, Mrs. 

Dickinson, Miss Anna 

Douglas, Frederick 

Dow, Neal 

Emerson, R. W., Poet 

Everett, Edward 

Farragut, Admiral 

Field, Cyrus W. 

Foster, Lafayett S., Vice- 
President U.S. 

Fremont, J. O, General 

Garrison, Wm. Lloyd 

Gough, John B. 

Grant, General 

Greeley, Horace, Editor N.Y. 
" Tribune " 

Halleck, General 

Hampton, Wade, General 

Hancock, General 

Hardee, General 

Hawthorne, N. P. 

Holmes, 0., Poet 

Hooker, General 



Howard, General 
Irving, Washington 
Jackson, Stonewall 
Johnson, A., President 
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Lee, General Robert E. 
Lincoln, Abraham 
Lincoln, Mrs. 
Longfellow, Poet 
Longfellow's Children 
Lowell, Professor J. R. 
Manhattan 
M'Clellan, General 
M'Culloch, Secretary 
Maury, Lieutenant 
Meade, General 
Morse, Professor 
Parker, Theodore 
Phillips, Wendall 
Prescott, Historian 
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Sherman, General 
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Stevens, A. H. 
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Sumner, Charles 
Taylor, Bayard 
Taylor, General 
Theatricals, Group of 100 
Thomas, General 
Tom Thumb 
United States Army and 

Navy, Group of 100, "with 

Index 
Whittier, J. G., Poet 
Willis, N. P., Poet 



48, PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON. 



G. W. Bacon & Co., 



11 



PEANG'S ALBUM PICTURES: exquisitely printed in 
oil colours. Each packet contains 12 assorted copies In 
a handsomely-printed envelope. 



The peries comprises the following subjects, to -which 
new ones will constantly be added : — 



Butterflies of America, Pt. 1 
Butterflies of America, Pt. 2 
Butterflies of America, Pt. 3 
Butterflies of America, Pt. 4 
Butterflies of America, Pt. 5 
Autumn Leaves, Pt. 1 

Autumn Leaves, Pt. 2 

Autumn Leaves, Pt. 3 

Autumn Leaves, Pt. 4 

Autumn Leaves, Pt. 5 

Flowers, Pt. 1 

Flowers, Pt. 2 

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Wild Flowers (Sept.), Pt. 1 
American Singing Birds, Pt. 1 
American Singing Birds, Pt. 2 
American Singing Birds, Pt. 3 



American Singing Birds, Pt. 4\ 
Roses, Pt. £ 

Sea Mosses, Pt. 1 

Sea Mosses, Pt. 2 

Sea Mosses, Pt. 3 

Wood Mosses, Pt. I 

Fruit and Blossoms, Pt. 1 
Humming-Birds of America, 

Pt. 1 
Humming-Birds of America, 

Pt. 2 
Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress 
Poor Richard's Maxims 
Funny Characters 
Falls of Niagara 
Winter Landscapes 
Life in the American Camp, 
etc., etc., etc. 



As specimens of beauty and perfection of printing in 
oil colours and truthfulness to the naturnl objects which 
they represent, these Pictures have never yet been equalled. 
They are specially adapted for filling blank leaves in the 
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they will be found exceedingly suitable. Price 2s. 6d. per 
Packet; Postage, 3 Packets One Penny. 



BACON'S EXPANDING CARD ALBUM, for the above 

Pictures, or for Cartes de Visile. Prices, to hold 25, 
6d. ; to hold 50, Is. 



48, PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON. 



12 



G. W. Bacon & Co. 



LIST OP PRINTS. 

ALL BEAUTIFULLY COLOURED. 
Scripturo Subjects : Size, 14 by 20 Inches, Price 8d. each. 



Jesus Blessing Little Children 
Jesus Casting Out Devils 
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Temple 
Jesus Raising the Widow's 
Son 



Christ Presented 

Temple 
The Child Samuel 
Samuel and Eli 



in the) 



Scripture Subjects: Size, 111 
Birth of Christ 
Jesus Feeding the Five 

Thousand 
Jesus R a i si n g Jairus' 

Daughter 
Jesus Talking with the 

Won an ot Samaria 
Jesus Questioning the Doctors 
Wise Men Worshipping Jesus 
Abraham Offering up Isaac 
Christ's Entry into Jerusalem 



by 20 Inches, Price 4d. each 
Elijah Raising the Widow's 

Son 
Jesus Walking on the Sea 
Jesus Betrayed by Judas 
Jesus Driving out the Buyers 

and Sellers in the Tempto 
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The Good Samaritan . 
Cain and Abel 
Jesus Before Caiaphas 



Miscellaneous Subjects: Size, 1 

Abraham Lincoln, (plain) 

Daniel O'Connell 

The Orphan's Dream 

The Orphan's Prayer 

The First Step 

The First Cares 

See-Saw ) 

Happy as a King ) 

Quite Enraptured 

My Love to You 

Ball Shoes 

Bird Has Flown 

The "Onconvanience 

Single Life 
" A Raal Convanience 
Cardinal Wiseman, (plain) 



1 



to 



1^- by 20 Inches, Price 6d. each. 
The Happy Mother 
My Little Favourite 
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On a Point 
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Mamma " 
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Ecce Homo 
St. Patrick 
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The Coronation ) 
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The Crucifixion \ 
Sacred Heart of Jesus ) 
Sacred Heart of Mary ) 



Rev. John Wesley at his Mother's Grave, Is. 

Scripture Subjects : 15 by 20 Inches, One Penny each. 
The Creation I The Entry into the Ark 

The Temptation | The Deluge 

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G-. W. Bacon & Co. 13 



BACON'S POPULAR SERIES OP COMMERCIAL MAPS,* 

u Marvels of beauty, accuracy, and cheapness." 

Uniform in Size and Price, each about 2 by 3 feet* 
embracing the following Maps: — 

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IRELAND and CANADA, 

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BRITISHISLES, AUSTRALIA, 

LONDON, | and the WORLD. 

Newly engraved in the best manner, with all improvements' 
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Prices, coloured, in cover, 2s. 6d. ; on cloth, in case, or 
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BACON'S SHILLING SERIES, 

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BACON'S COUNTY MAPS ^ith all the railways, railway 
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Now Eeady — 

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„ „ — West Riding. 

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From the earliest period to the Union of the three 
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in Britain, Feudal Divisions of Dukedoms, Earldoms, &c; 
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BACON'S MAP OP LONDON and Visitor's Guide, witn 
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48, PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON. 



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BACON'S BALLOON VIEW OF LONDON. A Panoramic 
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BACON'S Historical Map of Europe, with the Railways, 

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%* This Map contains a brief history of all the European States from 
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European History. 



48, PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON. 



IB 



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BACON'S TOPOGKAPHICAL MAP OF PALESTINE from 

the most recent sui'veys, showing the results of the 
* latest explorations, and all the identifications of ancient 
•with modern places which have been published, dis- 
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ancient, and modern names, with enlarged plans of the 
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as recently surveyed and reconstruction proposed, also a 
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BACON'S TOPOGEAPHICAL MAP of "the Lands mention- 
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. %* Card Photographs of the ab ove, price Is. each. 

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G. W. BACON & CO., 48, Paternoster Eow, 

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THE GREAT AMERICAN REBELLION : its Causes, His- 

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POLITICAL TEXT-BOOK, compiled by Horace Greeley 

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